The Loud House: Sportsmanship
by Reddwalker314
Summary: Three months after the events of One Step Too Far, things seem to be back to normal. That is until Lynn meets a boy one day after school. The two quickly become friends. But after an altercation happens, things change drastically. Lynn begins to develop feelings she never knew she had, and try as she might to reject them, they present themselves anyway.
1. Chapter 1: A New Friend

Ok so I finally got the first chapter up for this story. Just to clarify, this is the second story I was talking about in the last few chapters of One Step Too Far. I began writing this in the beginning of June, so I waited a while to finally publish this story. But I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

"Look at you, you're already crying!" A girl said.

"Am not!" Lynn shouted back.

The girl laughed maliciously, "Yeah you are! I can see the tears in your eyes building up!" The girl replied laughing even more.

Lynn felt her breathing become uneasy. The tears in her eyes were threatening to spill. The heat in her face built up from a mixture of sadness and anger made it worse. "Shut up, Maddison!" She yelled.

Maddison laughed even more. "Aww poor baby Lynn. Sad that you lost your wittle game?"

"No!" Lynn yelled. It was a half lie. She actually was sad about the loss, but the emotion she was feeling at the time was mostly rage.

"You're just realizing that nobody on your team needs you. You're just as useless as the people watching in the stands!" Maddison barked.

Lynn could feel her sorrow beginning to take control of her body. She wanted to punch this girl in the middle of her nose. But what can she do with a weak will? But maybe she wouldn't need to act, as a thirteen year old African American boy who was Clyde's shade, named Adam, just happened to turn the corner. He was a little taller than Lynn herself. Sporting a white muscle shirt and black basketball shorts and a low haircut. He finished working out previously and was leaving the building. Until he saw Lynn being verbally bullied by a girl the same height as her wearing a blue volleyball t-shirt and compression shorts. He saw a tear stream down Lynn's defeated, emotion filled, face. "Hey!" He yelled out.

Both girls turned their heads in his direction.

"Why are you making her cry?" Adam asked.

"It's not my fault she's all soft like that. I'm just informing her on how useless of a player she is." Maddison replied.

"Is there really a point in doing that?" Adam asked her again.

Maddison laughed, "Yes! She's causing so many losses for our school. Why not let her know?"

Adam crossed his arms. "You talk about how bad she is when you're on the bench longer than her?"

Maddison scoffed at him, offended. Lynn looked at Adam, surprised by his remark. "Yeah? What makes you so different from me?!" Maddison asked.

"I'm one of the top five players in all the sports I do. Which basically means I'm rarely on the bench unless taking a break. Which also means I have better things to do with my time than to bring others down with my own insecurities." Adam replied.

Maddison's face twisted with anger. But only because Adam was exactly right about what he was saying.

"Whatever!" Maddison shouted in frustration. She turned and promptly left the area. Adam heard a smack on the brick wall next to him. It sounded like human flesh coming in punching contact with a brick like substance. He turned around and saw Lynn punching a brick wall repeatedly. Using full force and every angry thought stored in her mind to punch the brick wall. But such force was cutting open her knuckles and causing them to bleed. Adam rushed behind her and pulled her away from the wall. She breathed angrily as Adam dragged her a good 15 feet away from the wall. "Don't do that! You're gonna hurt yourself!" Adam said.

Lynn thrashed about violently. "I don't care! I wanna keep punching it!" She yelled.

"Just settle down. Breathe slowly like me. Ready? In...out..." Adam said inhaling then exhaling.

"I don't wanna." Lynn replied.

"I'm not letting go until you do it." Adam said.

Lynn angrily mumbled under her breath.

"In." Adam said inhaling.

Lynn reluctantly inhaled with him.

"Out." Adam continued exhaling.

Lynn slowly exhaled. They continued matching inhaling and exhaling patterns until Lynn settled down and slightly slumped in his arms.

"Good. Feel better now?" Adam asked.

Lynn wiped her eyes with her sleeves. "What are you? Some miracle worker?" She asked sniffing.

Adam let her go and smiled, "No. I'm Adam. Adam Law." He said introducing himself.

Lynn suspiciously eyed him, "Lynn Loud." She introduced.

"What's all this stuff about not being useful?" Adam asked.

Lynn threw her hands up, "I completely botched my last Basketball game. I'm starting to think I'm not needed on any team."

Adam tapped her shoulder, "Nonsense! I saw you play before! You were just off your game!"

Lynn looked down, "I wish."

Adam smirked, "I know you're a better player than that."

Lynn looked up at him and smiled, "Thanks."

Adam nodded, "Are you joining football?"

Lynn shrugged, "Isn't it almost the end of the season?"

Adam shrugged back, "More than halfway done. But better late than never right?"

Lynn nodded. "Yeah I guess I'll join."

Adam smiled again, "Great! I'll see you at practice one of these days!"

Lynn nodded. "Thanks again."

Adam began backing away, "I gotta go. But remember, you're worth something. You're a very valuable player!" He said before turning and walking from the back of the school.

3 weeks later…..

Lynn was next on the football dive drill. She lined up in front of Adam. She had to go up against the wide receivers since that's her position, and the group she's in. Adam didn't want to go up against Lynn. She's strong in her own way but that's not why he didn't want to face her. It was because she was the only girl on the team. He didn't want to hurt her or embarrass her, but what other choice did he have? The coach blew the whistle and the two collided. But Adam exploded with such force that his momentum took Lynn off of her feet. Lynn landed on her back, and Adam landed right on top of her. Lynn grunted from his weight and the force of impact. Adam panicked thinking he crushed her body. "Ohmygod are you ok?!" He asked.

Lynn nodded, "You're good." She said out of breath.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to hit you that hard!" Adam said getting up.

He easily picked Lynn up and put her on her feet. "Are you sure you're ok?" He asked.

Lynn nodded, "Yeah I'm fine." She tapped his helmet. "Good job!"

Adam nodded but still looked her in the eyes, getting lost.

"Law!" The coach yelled.

Adam turned his attention to the coach.

"Your turn is over, either get a room or get back in line!" The coach said.

Lynn chuckled and playfully punched Adam on the shoulder, "Count yourself lucky, I'll get ya back one day!"

Adam shook his head and smiled, "You keep saying that."

Football practice lasted a little bit longer before it ended. After Adam took his gear off he walked walked to Lynn. "Hey Lynn. Sorry about beating you again."

Lynn smiled, "Hey, it's no problem. I just can't seem to beat you at it yet."

Adam shrugged, "I think you just need to be more explosive and use your legs more instead of upper body."

Lynn raised an eyebrow, "Really?"

Adam nodded.

"You think you could help me on that?" Lynn asked.

Adam was taken by surprise with the question. "I mean sure. Where would you want to practice that?"

Lynn shrugged, "My house probably. I have a lot of equipment there." She cocked her head to the side, "Do you play any other sports? Like baseball? Or?"

Adam nodded, "I mean last year I did, but I play dodgeball which is a substitute for it."

"So you're good at catching and throwing?" Lynn asked.

"Catching, throwing, and dodging." Adam replied.

"What about track?" Lynn asked.

"Sprinter and jumper." Adam replied.

Lynn nodded, "You know I might have to start hanging out with you. None of my siblings are all that interested in sports."

"Really? How many siblings do you have?" Adam asked.

"Ten." Lynn said nonchalantly.

Adam raised his eyebrows, "Wow!"

Lynn slightly grinned, "Yeah I know. The other nine are my sisters and there's one who's my brother."

"Big family." Adam said.

"You get used to it after a while." Lynn replied.

Adam chuckled, "Kindof sounds impossible."

Lynn shrugged.

A car honked behind them. They both turned their attention towards it. "That's my sister Lori. She's the oldest." Lynn said grabbing her gear and water jug. "How about you come over tomorrow? I need someone to practice with."

"Yeah sure. I just need your address." Adam replied.

Lynn told him her address then hurried to the car as Lori honked more.

She threw her stuff in the back and hopped in.

"What took you so long?" Lori asked.

"I was talking to someone." Lynn replied.

"You mean the boy?" Lori asked with a smile.

Lynn sighed, "His name's Adam."

"He coming over anytime soon?" Lori asked.

"Tomorrow, to do what you guys never want to do with me." Lynn replied.

"Oh, sports boy?" Lori asked.

"Yep." Lynn replied.

Lori shrugged, "You never know. He could be a comic book geek too like Lincoln, or a rockstar like Luna."

"Maybe." Lynn replied.

The Next Day...

Lynn jumped up and body slammed on Adam's stomach. "Oof!" Adam squeaked out as all the air in his lungs was forced out.

"One!" Lynn yelled slamming her hand on the ground. "Two!" She yelled again.

Adam quickly jumped up and pushed Lynn off. "Whoa!" Lynn said. She spun in midair and landed on her front with a loud thud. Adam quickly knelt next to her on the left and grabbed her right arm to pin it behind her back. "Ow!" Lynn exclaimed.

Adam let go scared that he hurt her, "Are you ok?"

Lynn grinned evilly before moving swiftly behind him and putting him in a headlock. She fell back with him and put her legs on his stomach. "You gotta tap, now." She said still smiling.

Adam groaned frustrated with no escape.

"Hurry before I make the hold tighter." Lynn teased.

Adam tapped his hand on the ground twice. Lynn let go and stood up shortly. "The woman! The myth! The legend! Lynn Loud!" She chanted.

Adam shifted in a sitting position facing her. He watched her jumping around chanting her name in a whisper to imitate a crowd.

"You cheated." Adam interjected.

Lynn finally stopped her chanting and faced Adam. "Nah, you're just gullible."

Adam felt a moment of betrayal, and looked slightly vexed.

Lynn sighed. She walked over and sat next to him. "Relax, I'm just messing with ya."

Adam looked at her, "I thought you were hurt."

Lynn met his his gaze, "You shouldn't have. I'm not fragile you know. I can hold my own."

"Yeah I know that. But people compare me to a Mac truck." Adam replied.

Lynn laughed, "You hit like a Mac truck."

"Sorry. That also emphasizes my point." Adam said.

Lynn shrugged, "There's nothing wrong with it. It's good to be sturdy like that."

Adam nodded. "My whole life depended on me to be sturdy. So I got used to it I guess."

Lynn gave him a quizzical look, "Huh?"

Adam shook his head. "N-nothing."

Lynn held her hand out. "What did you mean by-" "Lynn! Come inside, Mom and Dad wanna talk to you." Lori interrupted.

Lynn looked back. "Alright!" She faced Adam again. "I'll be back. We'll practice on my pitching next." She stood up and ran to the front door.

Adam looked around the yard. It looked very chaotic, dozens of different things on the yard scattered around. A battle field fought with toys. It made Adam slightly jealous.

"Hey, are you the boy Lynn brought over?" A voice called out. Adam looked over his shoulder and spotted a short boy with an orange shirt, blue jeans, and odd white hair walking towards him.

"Yeah I guess I am." Adam said. He questioned why the boy had white hair, but everyone is different in their own way.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lincoln." He said holding his hand out.

"Adam." Adam replied shaking his hand.

"How do you know Lynn?" Lincoln asked.

"Mainly from football. Tough girl." Adam replied.

"I gotta deal with that everyday." Lincoln said smiling.

"It's not that bad is it?" Adam asked.

"Depends on the sport. One day she may kick a soccer ball at you. Or another day she'll throw a baseball in your direction." Lincoln said.

"Sounds like she loves sports more than I thought." Adam said.

"That's probably why you're here." Lincoln added.

"I mean I like sports too, but I like other things as well." Adam replied.

"What kind of other things?" Lincoln asked.

"Well unlike a lot of the other football players, Lynn included, I'm a comic book geek." Adam said.

Lincoln's eyes went huge, "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa?"

Adam laughed, "Yeah."

"What do you know?" Lincoln asked trying to quell his excitement.

"Marvel, DC. That one guy Ace Savvy seems pretty cool." Adam said.

"I KNOW RIGHT?!" Lincoln yelled out loud. Adam raised his eyebrows. Lincoln covered his mouth, making not sure not to let anymore excitement blurt out.

"You alright dude?" Adam asked smiling.

Lincoln nodded and exhaled. "It's just that the only person that likes comics like me that I know is my friend Clyde."

Adam shrugged, "I'm used to being the only geek in my friends circle."

"How many friends do you have?" Lincoln asked.

Adam's smile disappeared, he looked down. "Come to think of it, none of my friends are that trustworthy. So my circle is pretty small if anything."

"No I'm sure you have more friends." Lincoln insisted.

Adam shook his head, "I don't."

Lincoln blinked. "Oh."

Adam looked up and noticed the conversation was taking a darker turn, "But uh putting that aside. Which comic book character is your favorite?"

Lincoln smiled, "Ace Savvy."

Adam nodded. "I figured. You geeked out when I said his name."

"He's just the coolest by far!" Lincoln added.

Adam shrugged, "I like Spider-Man more."

"Good role model." Lincoln said.

Adam nodded. The front door behind Lincoln opened and closed. Lynn returned and hopped down the steps from the porch. She smiled seeing Lincoln. "I see you met my brother." She put her arm around the back of Lincoln's neck.

"Only boy in the house." Adam said.

Lynn looked to Lincoln. "Yeah."

"Hey Lynn. Adam likes comic books too, like me." Lincoln said.

"Comic books? Lame." Lynn replied.

"Come on Lynn. You should give it a try." Lincoln begged.

Lynn shook her head. "Nah. I don't see what's so cool about it. It's not even real."

Lincoln nodded, "That's the thing! It's an escape from reality like video games."

Lynn patted Lincoln on the shoulder. "That's cute." She walked towards Adam and held her hand out to help him up. "Come on get off your butt. We're doing baseball pitches."

Adam took her hand and stood up. "Lead the way, Princess."

"Princess is Lola's thing." Lynn replied walking to the backyard.

"Lola...?" Adam trailed off looking to Lincoln for help.

"Younger sister." Lincoln simplified. Adam nodded and followed Lynn to the backyard. "So maybe we can be comic book geeks later?" Lincoln asked.

"No!" Lynn interjected still walking.

Adam turned his head, gave a thumbs up and nodded silently at Lincoln.

Lynn grabbed a baseball mitt and tossed it to Adam. She grabbed a catcher's helmet, and shin guards. She also grabbed a football hitting pad and tossed it to Adam. Adam noticed it while he was clipping the shin guards on. "What's that for?"

"That, is for the family jewels." Lynn replied.

"Why would I need that?" Adam asked picking it up.

"In case one of my pitches goes down there by accident. Or if I get mad and throw it down there." Lynn replied.

Adam raised an eyebrow, "You would purposely throw a baseball down there just for being mad?"

Lynn nodded, "It'd get you to shut up, yeah."

"But what if it wasn't me who got you mad?" Adam asked.

Lynn shrugged, "Then know it wasn't personal."

Adam sighed, "You're crazy."

Lynn narrowed her eyes, she then threw the ball forward toward Adam's legs. Adam quickly shielded his groin with the football pad and blocked the ball just in time.  
He looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Told you it'd make you shut up." Lynn said smirking. Adam puffed and tossed the ball back to Lynn.  
Lynn took her pitcher stance. She exhaled. Shortly she threw the ball forward again at a vast speed. Adam caught it with the baseball mitt in his left hand. He tossed it back. Lynn caught it and set up her position again. "So I gotta ask, where ya from?"

"Originally? I have no clue. But I grew up in town." Adam said.

Lynn threw the ball again, "Family moved a lot?"

Adam caught the ball again, "You can say that."

"How long are you staying for?" Lynn asked.

Adam tossed the ball back, "For as long as I want I guess."

Lynn caught the ball and nodded, "Decent."

"What kind of sports do you do?" Adam asked.

Lynn got in her position and held it. "Any sport I can join. Basically anything physical. From Martial Arts, and parkour. To Rugby, and name it." She threw the ball forward.

Adam caught it, "Wow. Definitely passed my record for most sports." He passed the ball back.

Lynn laughed, "Ball is life." Lynn threw the ball again. "That's basically all you need to know about me."

Adam caught the ball again. "I'm sure there's more to you than that."

Lynn shrugged. "I love sports…..not much else than that."

"Nothing else?" Adam asked tossing the ball back.

Lynn shrugged after catching the ball. "I'll do other things, like go to movies and concerts and what not."

"I got a feeling I'd have to ask your siblings about what else you like to do." Adam said.

"I'll bet that they say what I just told you." Lynn replied. "Enough talking, more throwing." She threw the ball again.

"What? I talk too much?" Adam asked catching the ball.

"Yes. It's very boring." Lynn replied.

Adam shrugged. He tossed the ball back. Lynn caught the ball then set up her stance again. She threw the ball back to Adam. Adam caught it and threw it back. Lynn caught the ball again and threw it to Adam again. Adam caught the ball again and instantly tossed it back. The sound of birds chirping could be heard. Even the shuffling of the grass when Lynn threw the ball would sound loud as if everything else was dead silent. They passed the ball back and forth a dozen more times through the soundless ball throwing. Still nothing said. Adam silently smirked. Lynn sighed. "Ok fine you can keep talking."

"You sure about that?" Adam asked.

"It's a lot more boring to not say anything than to listen to you." Lynn replied.

Adam held his hands in the air. "Ohhh the horror!" He pointed a finger at her and raised an eyebrow, "Hey wait a minute, weren't you the one that started the conversation in the first place?"

Lynn rolled her eyes, "Now you're gonna be Mr. Detail?"

Adam huffed and grabbed the ball from his mitt. "Anyway, what other sport do you wanna practice with?"

Lynn held her chin between the knuckle on her index finger and thumb and looked into the sky. "Well..." She trailed off. "Since I got an upcoming soccer game we can work on that next."

Adam held his hand with the ball out with his palm facing upward. "Shouldn't we have just started with that when I got here?"

"Yeahhhh, but then again none of my other siblings would do this with me. So why not have fun first?" Lynn replied shrugging.

"You call wrestling me in the dirt, and throwing baseballs at my groin fun?" Adam asked.

"I'd call bloody knuckles fun, so yeah wrestling and throwing stuff at you is also fun." Lynn replied smiling.

Adam swirled his finger around the side of his head, "Coocoo." He imitated a clock with a bird sprouting out of it.

Lynn dropped her smile, narrowed her eyes and grabbed towards the center of her mitt. But she grabbed nothing but air, she quizzically looked at Adam confused. She thought she had the ball. Adam smiled at her and held the ball up in his hand. "Looking for this?"

"I don't need a ball to hit you hard you know." Lynn said threateningly.

Adam tossed the ball back to her. "Fine. I take back what I said."

Lynn fought the urge not to throw the ball at Adam. "I'll forgive you this one time."

Suddenly the backyard door opened behind Adam. A little girl with blue overalls and a backward red cap that covered her blonde hair walked out. "Hey Lynn can I borrow your soccer gloves? I'm about to fix the leaking pipe in the sink and I can't grip the darn thing with wet hands." The girl stopped in her tracks when she locked gazes with Adam. "Uhh who's he?" She asked.

"Friend of mine." Lynn replied.

The girl smirked, "Your 'friend' huh?"

Lynn's face began to turn red. "Lana." She warned gripping the baseball in her right hand.

Lana began smiling, "Ooooooh is that your boyfriend?" Lana teased.

Lynn was fuming. "Shut. Up. Lana." She demanded gripping the ball harder.

Adam turned his attention back to Lynn. Brows low and pinched in the middle. Teeth bared like an angry dog. Adam looked at Lynn frightfully. "Uh, Lana? Can you maybe just tone down the teasing?" He dropped the baseball mitt and grabbed the football pad.

Lana laughed, "Cmon, Lynn I'm just messing with you."

Lynn glared at Lana still a little irritated. Lana began walking back into the house but stopped as she opened the door. "Did you guys kiss yet?" She asked.

"Oh God." Adam said silently gripping the football pad with his legs in front of it. Lynn growled angrily and swung her arm forward as hard as she could. The ball curved downward towards Adam's groin. It ripped through the football pad and slammed itself against Adam's groin. "SWEET MOTHER OF PERCY JACKSON!" Adam blurted out. He flopped on his back and clutched his throbbing aching privates.

Lynn snapped out of her angered state and rushed next to Adam, "Sorry I didn't mean to throw that hard. Are you ok?"

Adam rolled side-to-side on his back, "How on Earth can you throw that hard?!"

"I didn't throw it that hard." Lynn replied.

"That ball had to be going at least 130 mph!" Adam said.

"Well the football pad was old and it was ripping anyway." Lynn replied calmly.

"So I just tanked like 80 percent of that?!" Adam squeaked.

"Nah more like 95 percent." Lynn replied.

"Hang on, did he just say Percy Jackson?!" Lana asked laughing out loud.

Adam grunted out of breath, "I think I might pass out."

"Come inside, I need to get you ice for that." Lynn said trying to help Adam up.

Adam hissed in pain, "Lynn, standing after nut shots makes the pain ten times worse!"

"Tolerate it you big baby." Lynn said. She struggled trying to move him to the door. "Geez, use your legs. You feel like you're 150 pounds!"

Adam tried to use his quivering legs, "I'm 156, a good percentage of that is muscle weight. Probably leg muscle."

Lynn sighed, "Then use that leg muscle."

"Easy for you to say. It's not happening to you." Adam replied.

"You're right, and it's not gonna happen to me." Lynn said.

"I could make it happen." Adam said.

Lynn looked at him, "Do it and you're dead."

Lynn put his left arm over the back of her neck and she reached her right hand over to grab his torso. She placed her hand down on his stomach, but shock overtook her when she felt abs. "Whoo." She exhaled astonished.

Adam looked at her, "What?"

Lynn tried to shake it off, "N-nothing. Just need to catch my breath." She lied.

Adam looked at her confused but still in pain.

Adam nearly fell down when his right leg gave out. His body slipped past Lynn's right hand. She roughly grabbed his skin trying to make sure he didn't fall. Adam's face scrunched up in pain, "Ow! You're grabbing my chest!"

Lynn felt around and noticed Adam's big pec muscle. "Dam...AGE!" She quickly said. "Uh damage, yeah damage, that's a lot of damage you sustained..." Lynn awkwardly said.

Adam looked at her again, "What are you talking about?"

Lynn shook her head. "Can you just use your legs so we can get inside?" She silently blushed.

Lana held the door open and watched as Lynn and Adam passed her. Lynn gave her a threatening glare. "Nice to meet you." Lana said laughing.

 **Ok so that was chapter 1. It was gonna be longer but I decided to split the next part for the next chapter. What do you guys think about Adam so far? I hope you guys come to like him and this story. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to review on how you felt about it!**


	2. Chapter 2: First Impressions

**I was able to upload chapter 2 so fast since it was already written out. Sadly can't say the same about chapter 3. Enjoy!**

Lynn brought Adam to their family couch. He plopped down on it and sighed in relief. "I'll go get the ice." Lynn said running to the kitchen.

"Hello there." A monotone voice called out.

"AH!" Adam yelled, jumped and turning towards the voice in a karate defense position. But it was just a girl, in all dark clothing and hair. He sighed, "Geez. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"No, I just have that effect on people." The girl replied.

"What's your name?" Adam asked.

"My name is irrelevant, but if it makes you happy, I'm Lucy."

"Adam." Adam said.

"You seem to be in pain." Lucy stated.

"Lynn got mad and chucked a baseball at my private spot." Adam explained.

"Ouch." Lucy replied plainly.

"I'm not even sure if I'm gonna have kids anymore." Adam said.

"In my opinion children are just little pawns used to fill in the gaps of responsibility, who also disobey their parents regularly now a days and have to face the consequences of the mangled dark world we live in." Lucy spoke.

Adam raised an eyebrow. "Are you a poetry writer?"

"How'd you know?" Lucy asked in the same monotone voice.

"I used to write a little bit too when I was younger. But I never really wrote stuff that dark regularly." Adam said.

"I write dark poems regularly. They fill the void in my soul." Lucy replied.

"Rrrriiiigghhhhhht." Adam said.

"Sorry if I seem down on everything. It's just how I see the world. Dark, dreadful, and full of evil." Lucy stated.

Adam nodded, "You're not wrong. Though not everything is dreadful, it's just the obstacles that life throws at you."

"What obstacles did you have to face?" Lucy asked.

Adam looked away, "I had to face real demons."

This seemed to peak Lucy's interest slightly. "Demons? What did they look like?"

Adam shrugged, "Like regular people. No horns or goat legs. But they could've fooled me."

"You were wronged from the actions of others in the past?" Lucy asked.

"You have no idea." Adam replied turning back to her.

"People can be soulless at times." Lucy added.

Adam nodded, "Yeah. But those people don't matter anymore."

Lynn ran into the room with an ice bag. "We gotta use it now or else you're gonna have the swelling of a lifetime." She spotted Lucy sitting on the opposite side of the couch of Adam. "Oh hey, Luc." Lynn looked at Adam, "Looks like you met my roomy."

Adam looked at her quizzically. "You guys share rooms?"

"We all do. Except for our brother, Lincoln." Lucy spoke up.

Adam nodded finding the information intriguing. Lynn walked towards Adam, "Ok enough chatter, you need to put this in your pants."

"In my pants?" Adam asked.

Lynn sighed, "Yes, _in_ your pants."

Adam took the bag of ice and stuffed it into the front of his pants. He shook from the ice cold temperature. "Feels better."

Lynn nodded, "You need any water?"

Adam nodded back. "This is the only time I'm babying you, FYI." Lynn said walking back to the kitchen.

Adam turned back to his right, "Roomys huh?"  
But he was only asking the air questions. Lucy had disappeared just as fast as she appeared. "Ok then, nice meeting you too?" Adam said.

"Lily! Stop running around naked!" Lincoln yelled. A little 15 month old girl was happily running around giggling. Lincoln slipped on Lynn's tennis ball on the floor. He flipped and slammed onto the floor. "Ow.." He groaned.

Lily ran around the couch from him, but Adam quickly grabbed her and picked her up. "Hey there!" He smiled.

Lily smiled back and giggled again. "Cyde!" She chanted.

"Who?" Adam asked still smiling.

Lincoln stood up. "Oh hey Adam. She thinks you're my friend Clyde."

Lily's soft hands clutched Adam's cheeks and pulled them in opposite directions. This caused Adam to make a goofy face. Lily giggled more.

Lincoln giggled too, "Looks like she likes you, Adam."

Lily began smacking Adam's cheeks with both hands. Adam pulled back and gave her back to Lincoln. "She likes messing with my face too." Adam replied rubbing his face.

"Yeah. She's the youngest in the family." Lincoln stated. He looked down at Adam's pants. "Why do you have ice in your pants?"

Adam sighed, "Lynn got mad and threw a baseball down there."

Lincoln cringed, "Geez. It's gonna be hard to try to use the bathroom.

Adam nodded, "Didn't think she could throw that hard."

"Good luck." Lincoln said. "Now I gotta go change my baby sister. I'll talk to you later." He ran upstairs.

Adam sat back onto the couch. A few moments later Lynn came back into the room with a cup of water.

"Now. Hydrate." She said.

"Thanks." Adam said taking the cup and sipping from it. Suddenly the water in the cup started to shake. Adam looked at Lynn confused. Music could be heard in the background. "Is that rock music? From a guitar?" Adam asked.

Lynn sighed, "An electric guitar." She ran up the stairs.

Adam threw his hand up. "Everyone seems to be leaving in the middle of a conversation."

* * *

Lynn stopped at the room where the music was coming from. She peeked into it blankly, "Luna, can you tone it down on your rock?"

"Turn down for what?" Luna replied referencing a song at the same time.

"I have a friend over right now." Lynn replied.

"Ooooh what kind of friend?" The other girl in the room asked.

"None of your business, Luan." Lynn replied.

"It's gotta be a guy then." Luan said to Luna.

Luna returned the glance, "Definitely a guy."

Lynn frowned, "Just turn your volume down." Lynn moved out of the room.

"Hang on!" Luna called out. Lynn poked her head back in. "What?"

Luna held her arms out, "Aren't you gonna introduce us to him?" She smiled innocently.

Lynn blankly stared at her, "No." She promptly left the room again .

Luna sighed, "We can just introduce ourselves."

"Yeah I give a mean handshake." Luan laughed holding up a hand with a joy buzzer strapped to it.

Luna cocked an eyebrow at her sister, "Dude. That might be a bit too much."

* * *

"Sorry about that." Lynn said rushing back down the stairs.

"No problem. Considering you have ten other siblings, I'm not surprised you need to leave often." Adam reassured.

"How's your...spot feeling?" Lynn awkwardly asked.

Adam shrugged, "Still feels like it got slammed by the fastest pitch in the world."

Lynn laughed a little, "Like I said: Know it's not personal."

"Did I hear someone say Percy Jackson a little bit ago?" Mr. Loud suddenly asked out of nowhere, entering the room. He looked at Adam almost instantly. "What's that in your pants?" He asked.

Adam looked down at his groin area, "Ice."

Mr. Loud nodded, "Ah. Lynn caught you with a Sinker?"

"A deadly Sinker." Adam replied.

Mr. Loud put his fists on his hips and sighed as he brought himself back to his memories. "Yeah, I remember when she used to throw the ball around with me. I went through the same situation at one point."

"Daaaaaaaaaad." Lynn groaned.

Mr. Loud laughed, "Oh come on. I'm just letting him know I can sympathize with him."

"My name is Adam by the way, sir." Adam introduced holding his hand out.

Mr. Loud didn't hesitate to shake his hand. "Nice to meet you, Adam. You can call me Mr. Loud."

"Is there a guest here?" Mrs. Loud asked opening the door from their room.

Lynn groaned in frustration.

"Hello!" Mrs. Loud greeted warmly.

"Hi! I'm Adam. Are you Lynn's sister?" Adam asked.

"No, I'm her mother. But I'm glad to know I still look young." Mrs. Loud happily said.

Lynn shot Adam a look that he ignored.

"What's with the ice?" Mrs. Loud asked curiously.

Lynn had enough of all the questions from her parents. "Ok before anyone else says anything I'll just simplify. Adam here is a good friend of mine, we were throwing the baseball around and I accidentally threw it at his boy spot."

Adam raised an eyebrow at her, "Hang on that wasn't on accid-" he was halted as she raised her hand up to his face.

"Can you guys _please_ go?" Lynn begged.

"Oh." Mrs. Loud spoke up. She turned to her husband, "Honey I think Lynn just wants some quality time with her friend here."

Mr. Loud picked up the message that Mrs. Loud was sending. "Ohhhh. Ok then we'll be going."  
He and Mrs. Loud turned around and walked to their room. "No funny business though, smooches are allowed but anything else is prohibited." Mr. Loud said before closing their door.

Lynn face palmed herself. "They couldn't go a minute without saying something like that." She complained.

Adam chuckled, "They seem pretty nice."

Lynn snapped her head in his direction, "Did you really have to do that thing where you ask my mom if she's my sister?"

Adam shrugged, "It's polite! I'm not gonna say she looks like she's 70 cause that's not true and that's really rude."

"Thanks for the generosity." Lynn sneered.

"Ok I can tell that was sarcasm, but you're welcome anyway."

"Hey friend of Lynn's!" Luna greeted suddenly out of nowhere.

Adam and Lynn both turned around to see Luna's speakers set up right behind the couch. Adam didn't seem threatened by it, he was a bit curious to hear this music. But Lynn instantly became cautious of the speakers next to them. She's seen them fling Lincoln around by the sound waves alone numerous times.

"Uh I don't think Adam wants to hear this music." Lynn said nervously.

"So Adam's your name huh?" Luna asked. "Well as a guest of the Loud House, you should know that we will, we will..." She raised her hand with the next action to strum her guitar.

"Adam duck!" Lynn warned turning to Adam.

Adam was too confused to understand why she was telling him to do this. "Why what's wrong?"

Lynn didn't respond, she ducked figuring that they'd be in the same boat if she didn't. "ROCK YOU!" Luna shouted strumming her guitar.

The sound of her guitar strum could be heard through the speakers at a high volume. The force from the sound waves managing to blow Adam off the couch and send his body smacking against the wall. He slowly slid off and landed on the back of his neck and the top of his shoulders. "Ouch." He groaned.

Luan walked up to him with her hand out. "Here let me give you a hand."

Adam didn't know her nature, so he reached out and grabbed her hand. But he instantly regretted that as there was a painful jolt of energy that managed to course through his entire arm and go around his body. He let go and held his hand in pain. "Ow! What is that?"

Luan giggled, "It's a joy buzzer. Haven't you seen one before?"

Adam shook his head and tried to shake the painful sensation off of his hand, "No. I wouldn't deem them so joyful."

Luan laughed while Adam flipped over and stood up.

"Luna, Luan, could you guys stay in your room if you're gonna be obnoxious like this?" Lynn asked annoyed.

"C'mon, sis. We just wanted to say hi." Luna defended.

"Launching him across the room and using a joy buzzer on him isn't saying 'hi'." Lynn replied in an angered tone.

"Eh I think it's fine, Lynn. Everybody's got their own way of greeting people." Adam said waving his hand.

Lynn ignored what he was saying, he was probably delusional from hitting his head pretty hard after smacking against the wall like that. She turned to Luna with a serious face, "You two had your little hello's. I just want to hang out with my friend in peace. So please go to your room."

Luna figured her sister was being a drama queen. But something about her was off. She was acting a bit possessive over Adam. She shrugged, "I guess you're right. Hey Lu, we might as well leave these two alone."

Luan looked a bit bummed out. "Well it was nice meeting you. Maybe next time you'll find some joy from the buzzer." She laughed.

Adam laughed with her, "Maybe."

Without another word the two made their way to their room.

Lynn plopped down on the couch in frustration. The action quickly catching Adam's eye.  
He sat next to her willing to figure out why she was so frustrated. "What's got you in such a fit?"

"I'm not in a fit." Lynn replied frowning.

Adam raised an eyebrow at her, "Really? Cause you look like you could punch a hole in a punching back right now."

"All I wanted was to mess around, and practice for my big game, but once we got inside my family couldn't stop being obnoxious." Lynn finally let out.

"Well we still would've been outside if you didn't throw a Sinker at my groin." Adam admitted.

"Hmph." Lynn pouted, too stubborn to take the blame.

Adam sighed, he should change the subject now before Lynn would stay in a bad mood. "Ok so instead of messing around, what else do you wanna do?"

Lynn looked out the window. She could see it was getting dark outside. "No point in throwing a football around or anything else outside." She said. She looked at the tv and a smile made its way on her face. "Maybe we can watch something on the television." She said. She grabbed the remote and turned the tv on. She then tossed the remote to Adam's lap, "You can go ahead and pick something to watch. Maybe go to the sports channel."

Adam picked the remote up and stared at it. "Uh how do you work this?" Adam questioned.

"What? You don't know what a tv remote is?" Lynn asked.

Adam sighed, "I mean... I've seen one before.." He trailed off.

Lynn looked at him and snickered trying not to laugh in his face. "Have you even used one?!"

Adam smiled back, "No."

"Is this a joke? Are you actually being serious?" Lynn said beginning to giggle.

Adam sighed again but still kept a smile, "I'm being serious, yes."

Lynn rested her forehead on her palm and tried even harder to hold in her laughter, letting out a few giggles.

Lori sat near the entrance of the stairs listening to the conversation. Another mystery to the new mystery boy. "How could he not know how to use a tv remote?" She asked herself.

Luan poked her head out of her and Luna's room. "Maybe he doesn't like remotes." She said smiling.

Lori turned her head to Luan's direction. "Why would he hate remotes?"

Luan lifted a finger up, "Because he doesn't like it when people push-his-buttons." She laughed.

Lori groaned and turned her attention back to Lynn and Adam. Lynn sat up and grabbed the remote from Adam. She pointed at the set of numerical buttons, "Ok, so these you use for scaling channels. But all channels have different numbers, so you gotta know certain numbers in order to go to certain channels."

Adam nodded to signify he understood.

Lynn pointed at the volume button. "This is the volume button. You press down to lower the sound and you press up to make the tv louder." She moved her finger to the channel button. "This changes the channels in a different way. You press up and it'll move one channel over, and if you press down it'll do the same thing but the other way."

Adam nodded, "I know what everything looks like. It's just the remote that I've never really had hands on experience with."

"Well now you do. Press the buttons 1-3-3-7 on the remote." Lynn said.

Adam reluctantly did what she said. The channel flipped to a Spanish channel where luchador's were seen in a ring.

"¡Si!" Lynn chanted. "¡Lucha Libre! ¡Ronda numero cinco!" She jumped on the couch and pumped her fists in the air.

Adam looked at her quizzically, "Lucha Libre?"

Lynn looked down at him, her face lit up with joy. "It's Spanish wrestling! You're gonna love it!"

Adam looked at the tv unsure of the show he was watching. "Lynn, this looks really weird. These men are dressed up in costumes."

Suddenly one of the luchador's jumped off of the ropes in order to body slam the other luchador on the mat. But the one on the mat caught the other one in mid air and supplexed him on the mat. Both Lynn and Adam cheered. A referee laid down next to the luchador's and counted the wrestler out with three taps.

"That was amazing! Did you see how he caught him?!" Adam asked amazed.

Lynn nodded, "Yeah! And then he supplexed him and tapped him out!"

Adam cheered again, "¡Lucha Libre!"

"Lynn!" Mr. Loud yelled from their room.

Adam could see Lynn slightly panicking. "Oops. A bit too loud." She chuckled.  
She sighed in a relaxed way and slumped on the couch. "I think you might have to go. My parents never let me have sleepovers anymore." She gave Adam a friendly smile but it slowly vanished when she saw his expression drop a little. "Don't worry we can hang out again some other time."

Adam still felt down but gave her a fixed smile. "It was fun while it lasted."

"I had a lot of fun today, Adam. More than I would've expected. I hope we can have another day like this." Lynn said.

Adam's fixed smile turned to a genuine one as he laughed, "Yeah. Minus the nut shot."

Lynn shared in the laugh. "True."

Adam stood up and walked towards their door. Lynn helped him out and opened the door.

"I'll see ya later." Adam said.

Lynn watched him take a few steps thinking about what she wanted to say. He was still in their yard. She had to hurry. She ran out and grabbed him by the shoulder.  
"Hey do you play basketball often?" She asked in a rush.

Adam turned to her, "Yeah. Why?"

Lynn glanced at the grass for a moment before fixing with his eyes again. "Would you like to meet me at the basketball court tomorrow?"

Adam tilted his head to the side, "Like a date?"

Lynn's eyes darted around anxiously, "Well..um-I..." She stammered.

Adam laughed, "I'm just messing with ya. I'll meet you there at 3."

Lynn sighed a breath of relief. "Don't forget." She said in a small voice.

Adam smiled at her, "Why would I?"

"Most guys usually get scared of me cause I'm tomboyish." Lynn admitted.

"Well I'm not most guys." Adam reassured.

Lynn started blushing and attempted to hide it from him. Despite her attempts he still saw it. "You seem nervous." He pointed out.

"I'm not." Lynn said growing frustrated with her feelings.

She punched Adam in the arm to cover up her emotions.

Adam rubbed his arm with a smirk. "I'll see you tomorrow. I promise."

"Ok. Hurry home, your parents are probably worried about you." Lynn said turning back to the house.  
She missed Adam's smile turn to a frown at her last sentence. But he made sure to turn around and walk off before she could see it.

As Lynn closed the door and walked to her room she thought to herself. Did she actually just ask him out on a date to the basketball courts? That's impossible. Dates are all fancy, and they revolve around restaurants or something close to that. But then something hit her, she's never even thought about asking a boy out to a date. "I hope I'm not turning into Lori, her and Bobby go out on so many dates it's not even funny." She said to herself.

Lori suddenly zipped into Lynn and Lucy's room without warning holding Lily with her. "Boyfriend alert!"  
All the other girls and Lincoln rushed into Lynn and Lucy's room. Leni being the last one in closing the door.  
The girls talked to each other excited trying to figure out who the boyfriend alert was for.

"Lori who's the alert for?" Luan asked.

Lori answered by looking at Lynn. The rest of the siblings did the same and all eyes were on Lynn.

Lynn looked back at them. "What?"

"Wait a minute." Lincoln spoke up. "A boyfriend alert for Lynn?" He looked at Lori for clarification.

Lori nodded to show Lincoln he had it right.

Lincoln looked back at Lynn with his mouth a gape, "It's the guy that was just here wasn't it?"

"Hang on a millishecond." Lisa spoke up.

"There wash another male human here beshidesh Lincoln and our father?"

Everyone nodded to her except for Lynn.

"Dang it. I could've ran shome experimentsh." She complained.

Lynn held her hands up, "Whoa whoa guys. Calm down. There's no reason as to why I'm the one with the boyfriend alert. I'm still single."

Lori smugly smiled at her, "True. But you just asked him out on your version of a date at the basketball courts tomorrow."

All the other Loud siblings gasped.

Lynn could feel the awkward tension focused on her. "You're right... B-but it's just a friendly meet up. To play ball."

" _Is_ it a friendly meet up though?" Lincoln asked.

Lynn looked off to the side, "Well...he did joke around asking me if it was a date."

The Loud siblings gasped in unison again.

"C-c'mon guys! You know me!" Lynn said defensively. "I'm the last girl in this house to find a boy."

"Looks to me like you already found one." Luna said.

Her siblings all "Awww"'d her at the same time. Lynn was surprised to be in the middle of their meddling for once.

"Look I don't want any of you guys to be saying that if he comes over here again." Lynn said.

"Is it cause you're nervous?" Leni asked.

"No, it's because you guys could ruin something special real fast." Lynn replied crossing her arms.

"Look at that! You just called him special! That's so cute!" Lola squealed.

Lynn groaned in frustration, accidentally letting that word slip out. "Will you guys just leave already? I don't want you to keep me up all night with this nonsense."

"It's not nonsense, Lynn. It's called love. You're feeling the effects of it for the first time." Lori said.

Lynn stared at Lori. "I'm not in love! I've only known him for three weeks! Besides I'm too young to love somebody!"

"Maybe you're right. But when the feeling comes, you'll know it." Lori said.

Lynn rolled her eyes.

"Let's go girls, and Lincoln, we need to give Lynn her beauty sleep." Lori ordered.

All the Loud siblings departed to their separate rooms. Each murmuring different things about Lynn's new situation.

Lynn turned the light out and turned over in her bed. She'd have to withstand her siblings talking about this for a while. She definitely wasn't looking forward to that. But what was she feeling? Could she actually like a boy? Maybe it was just a phase of her beginning puberty. The answer to that was probably likely to show itself in the near future. But all she had to focus on was that basketball date/ meetup.

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it! By this point I'm sure you guys notice something's off about Adam. From saying he's seen demons, to not knowing what a remote is. No he isn't a mystical creature, but there is something that he's keeping from the Louds. You'll see what it is as things start to unfold next chapter. Feel free to review on how you felt about this chapter! I shall upload the next chapter hopefully soon!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Secret's Out

**I apologize for the long wait for the chapter. This chapter is longer than I naturally write the other chapters so it took a little to write and post. I'm not gonna say much cause I know people waited a while to read this so enjoy the chapter!**

The next morning Lynn woke up pretty late in the day for once. She looked around sleepily. Lucy wasn't in her bed. She must've been in the vents writing her poems. But she only does that in the afternoon. Lynn thought that was weird considering she just woke up and it should be in the morning. She threw the covers off of her and walked out in the hallway. Everyone seemed to be doing their afternoon hobbies. Lori texting Bobby all the time. Lisa conducting experiments. Lynn walked to Lincoln's room. She opened the door and saw him reading his Ace Savvy comic in his underwear.

Lincoln turned his attention to her looking a bit confused. "Lynn? You're still here?"

"What d'you mean I'm still here?" Lynn asked.

"It's 2:53. I thought you'd be gone by now." Lincoln replied.

Lynn held her face and panicked. "2:53?!" She yelled. "How could I sleep for that long?!"

Lincoln shrugged. "I dunno. I guess Lori was right, you actually did get your beauty sleep." He casually replied.

"I gotta hurry! I'm gonna be late!" Lynn said.

"Luckily you woke up late, so there's no line in the bathroom. But don't expect a hot shower." Lincoln informed.

"I don't care about a hot shower!" Lynn shouted sprinting to the bathroom.

Lincoln calmly read his comics while Lynn showered in cold water.

"I d-d-don't w-want him to think I s-s-stood him up." Lynn said through chattering teeth from the water temperature.

"If you hurry fast enough then maybe he'll forgive you for being a little late?" Lincoln asked.

Lynn rushed out of the shower and quickly dried off. "That's if he gets there before me."

"By this rate I wouldn't be surprised if he did." Lincoln said.

"Do you fink he brought a basetball?" Lynn tried saying while she brushed her teeth.

"What?" Lincoln asked.

Lynn spit the toothpaste out and rinsed her mouth out. "I said: Do you think he brought a basketball."

Lincoln shrugged even though Lynn couldn't see him. "You should bring one just in case."

"Good idea." Lynn complimented putting on her normal get up.

Lincoln put his clothes back on and walked to Lynn and Lucy's room. He noticed Lynn was actually shaking. He hasn't seen her this nervous in a while. The last time she was, was her last big soccer game.  
"Lynn, you don't have to be nervous just take it slow."

"Whosnervous? Imnotnervous!" Lynn quickly replied.

Lincoln raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ok. Maybe I'm a little nervous." Lynn admitted.

"A little?" Lincoln repeated.

"Alright I'm very nervous. It's just that I've never done this before. This is the first time." Lynn said.

"Don't overthink it. Have fun with it." Lincoln said confidently.

"I guess you're right. It's not like I'm playing basketball for the first time anyway." Lynn agreed.

"Go on, the great Lynn Loud is never afraid of anything." Lincoln dismissed.

"Thanks, bro." Lynn said rushing down the stairs.

"Wait!" Lincoln shouted.

Lynn stopped herself for a split second. "What?"

Lincoln grabbed her basketball and tossed it to her. "You almost forgot this."

Lynn caught the ball and smiled, "Thanks. I'll be back later." She continued to run out the door. 

* * *

Lynn arrived at the occupied basketball courts. She eagerly looked around for Adam, seeing dozens and dozens of other kids around her age or a lot older. "He should be here, It took me about ten minutes to get here. Maybe he's late too?" Lynn asked herself. Someone suddenly tapped her shoulder halting her own question. She turned around and came face to face with Adam.  
"Oh hey! You showed up!" Lynn said cheerfully.

Adam nodded. "Yeah. I was looking for you, you ran a little late."

"Sorry about that, I woke up REALLY late. All my siblings used the shower before me so I had to shower in ice cold water." Lynn explained. She shuddered remembering the stone cold temperature. "I hate cold showers, don't you?"

Adam shrugged, "I take them all the time."

Lynn gave him a questionable look. "Geez, why?"

"There's not much hot water to go around either." Adam replied.

"Hardcore." Lynn complimented.

Adam smiled, "I try."

"Oh, were your parents worried last night when you got to your house?" Lynn asked.

There was a sudden change in Adam's expression, like he was remembering something. A delay in emotion, "Uh no they didn't mind." He spoke up awkwardly.

"Are you sure? You stayed kinda late." Lynn stated.

Adam nodded, "Yeah they were fine with it."

"Ok good. I didn't want you to get in trouble when you got home." Lynn said.

"Hey, a thought just occurred to me." Adam said changing the subject.

Lynn raised her eyebrows. "What?"

"Your big game is tomorrow. Why are we at the basketball courts?" Adam asked.

Lynn smiled. "Cause I wanna see how good you are at basketball."

"Lynn?" Adam sternly said in a questionable way.

"What?" Lynn asked innocently.

"We should be practicing on your soccer skills for your game tomorrow." Adam said.

"I just wanna have some fun. Is it a crime to have fun now?" Lynn asked.

"Come on, Lynn. Even though I've only known you for three weeks, I know for a fact you always work hard before a game." Adam stated.

"Tell you what, we'll practice after shooting some hoops first." Lynn insisted.

"Really?" Adam asked in disbelief. "I thought you'd wanna train first and play later."

"Remember what I said last night? About having fun with you?" Lynn asked.

Adam nodded.

"That's why I wanna play basketball first. It's fun hanging out with you." Lynn admitted.

Adam sighed. "Ok. But you better win tomorrow."

"I will, now stop being such a buzzkill!" Lynn remarked.

Adam laughed, "Alright. My bad. I shouldn't try to be your coach if you already have one."

"Ya think?" Lynn asked smiling.

Adam quickly snatched the ball from her in response. He lobbed it over both of their heads and made it in a nearby basket.

Lynn looked at the hoop dumbfounded.

Adam shrugged, "You didn't see that coming?"

Lynn looked back at him, "I wasn't ready! You cheated!"

"Rule #1 for an athlete: Always be prepared for anything." Adam said smirking.

Lynn grabbed the ball. "Pffft. Try to steal it when I'm actually paying attention."

"I was known as the king of ball snatching. This'll be a breeze." Adam said.

"Ha!" Lynn sneered. "As if! Come at me bro!" She challenged dribbling the ball.

Adam accepted the challenge and took a defensive stance. Lynn swiftly spun around him and made an easy layup. "King of ball snatching, huh? You gotta be fast for that title." She dissed.

"Touché." Adam said. He took the ball since they changed positions. Lynn took a defensive stance in front of Adam ready to steal the ball from him. Adam held the ball in one hand and used his other to boost him off Lynn's shoulder, as he jumped clean over her body. He made his own layup and smiled at her. "You don't always have to go around someone to score."

"Hey I'm shorter than you, you have an advantage." Lynn countered.

Adam smile changed to a smug one, "Only taller by a few inches, Lynn. There's no excuse for that one."

"Fine. I can just score on you again." Lynn replied taking the ball from Adam.

He stood in front of her waiting for her to take the first move. Lynn started to move past Adam with a lot of speed. "No you don't." Adam said. He wrapped his arms around her torso from behind and lifted her up in the air. They both laughed from the goofy manner.

"Come on Adam! That's a foul, you can't keep me from making the layup!" Lynn said laughing.

"In street basketball anything goes!" Adam replied laughing.

"Why are you here?" A girl suddenly asked.

Adam turned around with Lynn in his arms to see who spoke up suddenly. Lynn's mood instantly turned sour as her eyes rested on her old friend. "Maddison."

Adam put her down quizzically looking at Maddison. "Wait a minute. Weren't you the same girl that was messing with her a few weeks back?"

Maddison tilted her head to the side, "Yep. Are you the same guy that was kissing up to her last time?"

Adam crossed his arms, "Only as much as you kiss up to the coaches."

Lynn stepped in front of Adam. "Maddison, I really don't care why you're here. But I didn't come here to pick a fight with you."

Maddison took a little step forward, "That's funny, I didn't either. But I might as well pick one, after what you did."

"You're still blaming me for that? I already told you this a thousand times, it's not my fault, you brought that on yourself." Lynn replied angrily.

"Wait you had history with her?" Adam butt in.

Lynn turned to him, "Yeah. She used to be my best friend. Until she ditched me and tried to hang out with some popular kids."

She promptly turned to Maddison and put her hands on her hips, "But that came back to bite her in the butt when they pranked her in front of the whole school."

"I probably wasn't there to see it." Adam said.

"You should've. Cause now she's the laughing stock of the school." Lynn added.

"WAS the laughing stock. But they're REAL friends. They stuck with me after that." Maddison replied.

"What d'you mean REAL friends?! I was a real friend. You're the one who ditched me for them!" Lynn barked.

Maddison scoffed, "A real friend? All you ever wanted to do was something sport related."

Lynn threw her hands up. "It's what I love! Like who wants to sit around talking about boys all the time?" She turned to Adam, "No offense."

Adam shrugged, "None taken."

"Your little sport antics was the main thing that drove me away." Maddison said.

Lynn rolled her eyes and turned away from her. "C'mon, Adam. I don't wanna hear another word coming out of this airheads mouth." She grabbed Adam's wrist and pulled him as they walked in the opposite direction.

"Yeah that's right! Keep walking away!" Maddison shouted.

Lynn didn't say anything.

"Our friendship wasn't going to last long anyway! Who would ever want to be friends with a monster like you?" Maddison shouted again.

Lynn stopped in her tracks and dropped Adam's wrist. "What's that supposed to mean?" Lynn practically growled.

Maddison walked closer to Adam and Lynn. "You know exactly what that means. I'm pretty sure you can still remember the whole incident with your brother."

Adam looked at Lynn's vexed face, "Lynn what's she talking about?"

"She knows exactly what I'm talking about. Don't you, Lynn?" Maddison asked with a conniving smile.

Lynn only glared at her silently.

"What kind of freak would do such a thing to their own family?" Maddison asked in a rhetorical way.

"Lynn?" Adam called. It was as if Lynn couldn't hear him. Her eyes focused on Maddison, unable to hear anyone else but her words.

"It's funny how you could let your anger slip enough to go out of control like an animal. Of course you could've stopped it, but you were too stupid to let it slide." Maddison insulted finally a few feet away from Lynn. Her words were like knives cutting away at her. Lynn forgave herself for the past events but with the right words it could still get to her head. Her hands were balled up into fists, her knuckles turning white.  
"Even worse, you didn't listen to his pleads." Maddison added. "No matter what you accuse me of being, you'll always be an emotionless, selfish, tool, that no one will ever want."

Lynn was using every good thought in her mind not to lash out at Maddison. But she was running out very fast.

"You never loved him. You're too self-absorbed to care about him." Maddison remarked bringing her hand up to Lynn's face and flicking her on the head.

Lynn was done with what she was hearing, she was finally sent over the edge. She pulled her arm back and threw it forward, bashing Maddison in the middle of her face. Maddison fell back on the ground with a loud thud, covering her nose. The punch earning dozens of surprised reactions from the crowd around them.

"Shut up! I do love my brother! You don't have the right to say that!" Lynn yelled.

Adam jumped in front of Lynn stopping any other punches from being thrown. He turned to her pushing her back. "Lynn calm down!"

"Did you just punch me?!" Maddison asked outraged.

Adam turned to her, "You! Stay back! You had that coming!"

"Are you kidding me?!" Maddison asked.

"No I'm not kidding you, now shut up!" Adam replied.

"Lynn lets go, before you start beating this girl to a pulp." Adam said picking up Lynn's basketball. They walked out of the basketball courts being cheered on by the bystanders.

There was a grassy hill that was next to the basketball courts. Adam sat Lynn down and took a seat down in front of her. "Lynn tell me what happened." Adam said.

"You'd hate me if I told you." Lynn replied.

"Just tell me." Adam urged.

"Why?! You aren't my family! You aren't even part of my family, why should I tell you anything?!" Lynn questioned.

"Because I'm a friend, and I care!" Adam replied throwing his hands up.

"Well stop caring for me." Lynn said. "I don't need your sympathy."

"I'm sorry. She knows you did something a while ago that made you distant with your family, and yesterday you didn't want them around us. I don't want you to be distant or separated from your family." Adam replied.

Lynn scoffed, "Sometimes you need a break from your family. What would it matter to you anyway?" Lynn questioned.

"It matters to me because I don't have what you have!" Adam snapped. Lynn looked at him, taken back from the outburst. "I don't have any siblings! I don't have a Mom or Dad! I don't even have a home!" Adam added.

"You're..?" Lynn trailed off. Adam nodded and held his arms up, "I'm adopted and homeless. The only place I have to stay is at a restaurant where a nice man let me stay. I take showers at the school at the beginning and the end of the day."

Lynn looked away trying to piece everything together. "So yeah, it matters to me that you don't become severed from your family. Because I know what it's like to never have the love that your parents give you. Or the support they bring. Or the siblings that fill your life." Adam added.

Lynn turned back to Adam, "Adam. I didn't know..."

Adam shrugged, "Not many people do."

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your adoptive parents?" Lynn asked.

Adam scoffed, "My adoptive parents don't care about me. They were worse than living alone. That's why I ran away from 'home'. It's not like they cared anyways."

Lynn looked down, "I would've never guessed it. When I first met you, you seemed so..." Lynn couldn't find the word.

"Happy?" Adam finished.

Lynn looked up at him and nodded.

Adam shrugged, "Staying happy keeps me from those negative thoughts of not being wanted. It makes other people around me happy."

Lynn felt like she had to calm down. This whole time she had no clue Adam was homeless, let alone adopted. "How long?" She asked.

Adam's face expressed that she should rephrase the question since he was confused. "How long since you.." She paused trying to make sure she wouldn't say the wrong word. "Left?"

"Three months. Haven't been looking for me since." Adam replied.

"You didn't even think to tell me about this?" Lynn asked.

"I didn't think you would care." Adam replied.

Lynn looked offended, "Of course I would care! I may be a brick head at times but I'm not inconsiderate."

Adam felt bad about misjudging how Lynn would react as a person. They'd been good friends for weeks now, and he assumed she would be careless about his situation.

"I think, as a friend of yours, that should've been one of the first things you told me about you. You're homeless for God's sake! You could be slowly starving to death for all I know!" Lynn fumed.

Adam looked down feeling ashamed.

"I can't believe you wouldn't trust me with that information." Lynn said.

Adam looked up at her, "That's a bit hypocritical. I mean you wouldn't even share your family conflict with me."

"Well yeah but..." Lynn paused.

"But?" Adam said waited.

Lynn sighed. "You're right. I need to open up to you too."

Adam nodded in agreement.

Lynn hesitated before continuing, "I had this horrible fight with my brother three months ago. I gave him more than a dozen bad bruises on his body, sprained his wrist, and fractured his rib cage. It haunted me for a while and at times it still has a small affect on me. When Maddison used to be my best friend, I told her about it and that's what she was talking about."

Adam looked at her shocked. He knew she was tough but he didn't think she could do so much damage to a person, especially her own brother. "Lynn, that happened three months ago. It's over. You guys made up, I understand you may still feel guilty about it. But Lincoln is over it, he's fine."

Lynn shook her head, "I carried out a near gruesome beating for the most selfish reason. Over some dumb jersey. How could I be mad enough to batter my baby brother over a frickin' jersey?" She put her head down in shame.

"That's life, Lynn. Good people, like you, make mistakes. But it's only the good people that do them. Know why? Because those bad actions weren't intended, hence why they're called mistakes. You aren't a bad person." Adam replied.

Lynn looked at him and gave a weak smile, "You know you'd be a really good life coach."

Adam smiled back, "Born without good parents and a home? I could probably coach anyone."

Lynn's smile slowly vanished as she brought her mind back to Adam's situation. "Don't you ever get lonely?"

Adam's smile disappeared too, shortly. He gave her a small shrug, "I mean I guess. But hanging out with you relieves that feeling. I actually feel like I matter when I'm around you and your family."

Lynn stared at him confused, "That's nice but why wouldn't you feel like you matter? You would matter regardless of my family's company."

"My parents abandoned me before I could even walk." Adam replied. "Hearing people constantly shout that at me throughout my life made it go to my head. But now that I'm older I don't deny it."

Lynn gave Adam a serious look. "Adam, I don't care who tells you that. Don't believe them! You matter just as much as everyone on this planet does. Don't ever tell yourself you don't matter."

Adam didn't look convinced. "It's the truth, Lynn."

Lynn responded by placing her hand on Adam's chest. He looked at her confused trying to figure out what she was doing. "Do you know what that is?" Lynn asked him feeling his heart.

"My heart beat?" Adam questioned still confused.

Lynn ignored his answer, "That's purpose. You're alive for a reason. Whatever those people say about you isn't true. You shouldn't be living at this age with all those negative thoughts."

"Lynn, I was abandoned as soon as I was born. Spent ten years in a horrible foster home, then spent another three with sorry excuses for adoption parents. How do you expect me to feel about all that?" Adam asked.

"Just please stop thinking that way. Don't think you don't matter." Lynn said.

"But Lynn..." Adam went on.

"Please. For me?" Lynn insisted.

"I..." Adam trailed off looking away. " _ **Don't look at her face, Adam!**_ " He told himself. " _ **You look, and you're under her spell!**_ "

But despite his own self consciousness, he looked up. He saw her puppy eyes and couldn't say no. "I...guess. It wouldn't change much of anything, though." Adam said.

"I don't care." Lynn replied. "Just start thinking positively of yourself, you need the optimism."

Adam sighed and looked down, "Thanks."

"Adam?" Lynn asked.

Adam looked up at her again.

"If you didn't go to your parents house last night, where did you go?" Lynn questioned.

Adam didn't really want to tell Lynn. He didn't want her to worry or anything else. But judging by the look on her face, she wanted to know more. He hesitated before answering. "The restaurant where the guy let me stay. I help him cook and clean and in return he allows me to stay there."

Lynn looked down giving his words some thought. Adam saw this and became a little worried that she would get worried. "It's not bad, though. I got used to it." He said trying to persuade her.

"Wait. How do you get a haircut?" Lynn asked looking up again.

"One of the football coaches is a barber. He gives me free haircuts because of my...condition." Adam said.

Lynn looked troubled. Like she had conflicting thoughts. "Adam, we gotta tell someone about this."

Adam shook his head, "No. I don't want anyone else to know."

"You're thirteen and homeless! You can't live like this!" Lynn argued.

"But if people find out I ran away they'll bring me back to my adoptive parents! Or worse, the foster home!" Adam replied.

"So what are you going to do? Are you gonna keep living in a restaurant?" Lynn questioned.

"I'll think of something." Adam replied.

Lynn shook her head. "Adam, I'm serious. I don't like this one bit. Either you tell someone or I do, I'd rather have you live in a home than on the streets."

"Lynn, please. If you care about my well being then don't tell anyone! What the foster home and my adoptive parents did to me is something I never want to happen again. I wouldn't even wish the torments on my worst enemy." Adam pleaded.

"What could they possible do to you to make you not want to stay there?" Lynn asked.

"Abuse, neglecting, betrayal. Why do you think I didn't know how to work a remote? They never let me touch one." Adam replied.

Lynn looked off to the side trying to contemplate her thoughts rationally. "I don't know, Adam. I don't want you to get hurt anymore, but I don't want you to be homeless."

"I promise I'll think of something. Just don't tell anyone." Adam said.

Lynn looked at him unsure. If she told an adult or the authorities then he would have a home, but he would be neglected. If she didn't tell then he wouldn't be hurt by anyone, but he would be living on the streets. She sighed, "Fine."

"Thanks. I appreciate how you care for my health." Adam said.

"Just make sure you think of something fast. Being on the streets is the last thing I want for you." Lynn said.

Adam smiled, "Yes ma'am."

Lynn sighed not wanting to keep this problem to herself.

"Hey you wanna do something to get the negativity off your mind?" Adam asked.

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" Lynn questioned.

"Your soccer practice." Adam replied.

Lynn gave him a small laugh. "That sounds pretty good."

Adam stood up and helped her onto her feet. "Let's get started. You gotta crush that game tomorrow."

"Yeah." Lynn agreed. But somewhere in her head she still had her mind on his condition. How is a thirteen year old boy supposed to make a living on his own having to sleep in a restaurant? She couldn't get her mind off of it, even while they practiced.

* * *

Lynn came back into the house after a lot of practicing with Adam. She was tired but her mind still buzzed about what to do. All of her siblings were upstairs doing their own chaotic things. Too distracted to ask Lynn about her basketball "meetup". She made her way to her parents room and grew more nervous with each step. "I'm sorry, Adam." She whispered before stepping into her parents room. "Mom, Dad?" Lynn asked.

"Hey, Lynn. How was the basketball date-..err meetup?" Mr. Loud said.

"It was fine, but that was what I was gonna talk to you about." Lynn replied.

"About Adam?" Mrs. Loud asked.

Lynn nodded. "You guys know he's a good kid right?"

Both her parents nodded.

"Would it be ok with you guys if he stayed here?" Lynn asked right away.

Her parents looked at her wide eyed. "Stayed here for...how long?" Mr. Loud asked skeptically.

"Until he graduated from high school?" Lynn asked putting on a nervous smile.

"Lynn, honey, that's a stretch. You're asking us to take in another child we don't know much about?" Mrs. Loud asked.

"I know mom but he's adopted." Lynn finally said.

"That's sad but a lot of kids are adopted, honey. He's not the only one." Mrs. Loud replied.

"Yeah I know. But..." Lynn trailed off.

"Lynn, it's late. Go to bed, you have your soccer game tomorrow." Mr. Loud said.

"He's homeless!" Lynn blurted out.

Mr. Loud looked at her confused. "What?"

Lynn nodded.

"But you just said he was adopted?" Mr. Loud questioned.

"He has the adoptive parents now doesn't he?" Mrs. Loud asked.

Lynn shook her head, "They abused him. He told me he'd rather be homeless than to live with them."

"He ran away? Lynn they could be worried sick about him!" Mrs. Loud said.

"He ran away three months ago. There's nothing around town about a missing boy."

Mr. Loud thought for a moment. "Where does he live then?"

"A restaurant. He cleans up and helps out with the cooking in order to sleep there." Lynn replied.

Mr. Loud rubbed his forehead and contemplated on what to do.

"I know it's a lot to ask since there's already eleven of us, not including you two, Charles, Cliff, Geo, and Walt." Lynn rushed in before her father could answer. Mrs. Loud looked at Mr. Loud unsure. Eleven kids basically meant chaos everyday and possible noise complaints. Not to mention having to take care of all the pets equally. But another child? Another sports child? Another child that could relate to any one of the children and make the house more chaotic than it already was?

"Hasn't he thought about a foster home?" Mrs. Loud asked.

"He was neglected at his old foster home, and going back to a foster home could bring him back to his adoptive parents. He doesn't even know I'm asking you guys to do this." Lynn replied.

"You should've asked him to see what he would think about doing this." Mr. Loud interjected.

Lynn nodded, "Yeah. But I wanted to know if You and Mom would approve first. Besides, he wouldn't let me help him for the fear his adoptive parents would return."

Mr. and Mrs. Loud thought excessively on what to do. "She's right though. He's gotten along with a majority of the girls." Mr. Loud stated.

"Not to mention Lincoln will have a boy in the house he can relate to when Clyde is away." Mrs. Loud stated.

"So can he stay?" Lynn asked hopeful.

Her parents exchanged looks for a moment. "Well it's fine with us." Mr. Loud said.

"Thank you! Thank you!" Lynn said.

"But." Mrs Loud interrupted.

Lynn quieted down and listen for any catches.

"We need to make sure your other siblings know what's going on and if they're alright with it." Mrs. Loud added.

Lynn nodded. "Ok."

Mr. Loud walked out of their room and cupped his hands over his mouth. "Everyone come downstairs! Family meeting!"

Dozens of footsteps rushed down the stairs instantly. Family meetings were very important in the Loud House. They usually consisted of new changes within the home.

"What'sh wrong? Do we need to cut down on the electrishity bill?" Lisa asked.

"Ooo are we getting another pet? Is it a cat?" Leni asked.

"Leni, we already have a cat." Luna stated.

"I mean one of the big cats. Like lions, they have those too." Leni replied.

"They do. In the zoo." Lori stated.

Lincoln spotted Lynn standing next to their parents. "Oh Lynn, how was the basketball courts with Adam?"

"That's what we called you down here for. Lynn's friend Adam." Mr. Loud said.

Leni gasped, "Oh no! Did he break up with you?"

"No! I already told you I'm not dating Adam!" Lynn retorted.

Leni looked at her confused, "Wait you're dating someone else?"

"Ugh!" Lynn groaned. "I'm not dating anyone! I don't have a boyfriend!"

"Girls! Listen! We found out from your sister that Adam is not an ordinary boy. He was adopted, and now homeless."

The Loud siblings all gasped in unison except for Lynn. "That's why he didn't know what a remote was." Lori simplified.

"Lynn, has pitched your mother and I a generous offer. To have Adam stay here with us." Mr. Loud said.

"Really? Luan asked.

"Another boy in the house?" Lana asked.

"So is he like our new brother or something?" Lola asked.

Mr. and Mrs. Loud slightly shrugged, "That's if he plans to live here."

"Awesome! We can be a rock duo!" Luna said.

"Nuh-uh, he's going to be a guest at my tea party." Lola said.

"As if! I'm gonna show him all kinds of skin smoothing cream!" Leni said.

"Wrong. I'm going to turn him to the dark side." Lucy said.

"Thatsh preposhteroush! He'sh going to be my shpecimen for all my notorioush experimentsh!" Lisa said.

"Dream on! He's gonna be playing sports with me!" Lynn said.

"You already played sports with him." Lana protested.

"He's not even here and there's already havoc in the house." Mrs. Loud said to Mr. Loud.

"Not very surprised." Mr. Loud replied. He whistled and managed to quiet everyone down. "Listen girls, and Lincoln, he's his own person. You'll all have time to hang out with him if he decides to stay here. Now enough bickering about who's doing what with who."

The Loud siblings all groaned in unison.

"Also since no one has anything planned tomorrow we're all going to sleep early tonight." Mr. Loud said.

"Why?" Lola asked.

"Lynn's big soccer game is tomorrow. We're all going to be there to cheer her on." Mr. Loud replied.

"But that'll interrupt my beauty rest!" Lola protested.

"Sorry, but you need to support your sister." Mr. Loud said.

Lola grumbled her protest.

"Now go to bed. All of you." Mrs. Loud said.

There was a few more collective groans from the siblings as they walked up the stairs.  
Lynn was still next to her parents, thinking about how she went against Adam's wishes.

Mr. Loud pat Lynn on the head to break her from her thoughts, "That was a very generous thought, kiddo. Good job."

Lynn gave him a small smile, "Thanks Dad."

"No problem. You should get some sleep. You got a big day tomorrow." Mrs. Loud said.

Lynn nodded and walked up the stairs. "Yeah a pretty big day."

 **End of chapter 3. In case anyone needed clarification, Adam's parents are not dead. They put him up for adoption when he was born and he was taken to the horrible foster home, and then after that his evil adoptive parents took him in but treated him horribly. Yeah his history is dark, but I didn't want to create a Mary Sue character that was absolutely perfect. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Feel free to review and let me know how you felt about this chapter I will hopefully have the next chapter up soon!**


	4. Chapter 4: Welcome To The Family

**Hey guys I'm finally back with another chapter! I am really sorry it took thirteen days to do so (yes I counted), but good news is that it's definitely the longest chapter I've ever written for any of my stories! I would like to thank everyone who followed and favorited this story, without you guys I wouldn't have a motivation to write! Anyway, please enjoy!**

* * *

Lynn woke up a little before her parents were planning to leave out. She jumped out of her bed and started with morning stretches. One big thing was on her mind other than her game. "Gotta focus. Big game today. Can't lose it. But what if Adam is there?" She stopped herself and shook her head away from those thoughts. "No! Don't think about him! You'll ask him after the game! Focus on the game!" Lynn told herself out loud.

"Having trouble stretching?" Lucy asked.

"Not really. I'm just nervous about asking Adam to live here. It's getting to my head." Lynn replied easily touching the sole of her foot doing a sitting stretch.

"What's so nerve wrecking about?" Lucy asked.

"Well first of all he didn't want me to tell anyone about his situation, and I told all of you guys. Second of all he's never lived with a stable family before." Lynn replied.

"You'd call our family a stable one?" Lucy asked.

"I mean yeah we're chaotic and all, but we're a better family than the one he lived with." Lynn stated.

"He's told me about them. He talked about how they were demons and how they wronged him. I didn't know who he was talking about at the time but I guess I do now." Lucy said.

"How could they do such a thing to him? He's just a kid!" Lynn said.

"A lot of young people get hit with the ugliest things in life." Lucy simplified.

"Yeah, I guess they do." Lynn said.

"I think it's best that you focus on your game before you focus on Adam. If you let your emotions cloud your every move then you probably won't win." Lucy said.

"But I'm gonna have to confront him and ask him about staying here. He'll probably be mad that I told you guys." Lynn said.

"Confront him after your game. That way if he were to blow up in your face about it, you'll hopefully have won the game." Lucy said.

"Perfect. I win a game but lose another friend." Lynn said.

"I'm just offering suggestions. It's up to you on what you want to do." Lucy replied leaving the room.

"Thanks anyway." Lynn said grabbing her shin guards.

* * *

Lynn's nervous behavior continued during the drive in Vanzilla, she sat there twiddling her thumbs uncontrollably. Even when they got to the soccer field she was nervously looking around for Adam. "Let's go, Loud! It's just warm-ups, what're you looking around for?!" Her coach asked.  
Lynn looked at her coach after being snatched from her thoughts. "S-sorry. I was looking for a friend of mine."

"Unless they're helping us win this game you should be looking at the ball instead." Her coach replied.  
Lynn wanted to make a comment but didn't think being benched for the game would be worth it.  
After a few more drills it was time to start.

"I think the games about to start." Lincoln said to the rest of the Louds.

"Ok guys on 3 we're gonna cheer Lynn on!" Lori shouted.

"1, 2, 3! LET'S GO LYNN!" The Louds all shouted.

Lynn smiled hearing her family cheer for her. The whistle suddenly blew and the ball was passed to Lynn. She ran with it down the field before passing it to her teammate. Her teammate managed to take the ball from there and kick it from the side of the goalie box and score. The Louds and a few other families cheered, the first goal in the game.

"Nice shot." Lynn complimented.

"Thanks, nice pass." Her teammate replied.

Lola could feel a drop of rain hit her head. She looked up and saw dark clouds moving overhead. "Looks like it's about to rain."

"See I told you it was a good idea to bring the umbrellas." Mrs. Loud said to Mr. Loud.

"Heh, looks like you were right." Mr. Loud replied.

"I always am." Mrs. Loud added. They all opened their umbrella's and shared them. Mr. and Mrs. Loud shared an umbrella while holding Lily. Lisa held her own umbrella.  
Lincoln and Lucy shared an umbrella. Luan and Luna shared their own, Lola and Lana shared theirs too. Leni grabbed her and Lori's umbrella and held it upside down.

"Ooo are we making soup outside?" Leni asked.

Lori put the umbrella right side up and sighed. "I hope they don't slip out there."

Lynn was doing a pretty good job out there while it rained. Keeping the ball away from the other team and moving it down the field. She looked to her right searching for an open teammate but spotted someone else. She spotted Adam leaning on a metal fence next to the bleachers watching the game. He was wearing the same clothes he wore the other day, but they were now soaking wet since he didn't have a coat with him. She stared back at him as her concentration slipped, unaware a girl was heading straight for her. Two collided and Lynn tumbled on the ground.

Adam grimaced, "That had to hurt."

"EY! THAT'S A PENALTY, MATE!" Luna yelled.

"Foul." Leni corrected.

The Louds all looked at Leni except for Lynn. "What? I've been to a few of her soccer practices." Leni said.

"Ouch." Lynn groaned standing up. She shook her head and gave a thumbs up to her family to show she was alright.

"That's ok honey! Just shake it off!" Mrs. Loud yelled.

"Kinda already did, Mom." Lynn replied silently. She looked over at Adam a little surprised he wasn't wearing a coat or holding an umbrella considering the downpour. Lynn was used to the pouring rain by now, but Adam just stood in it casually. Occasionally wiping the raindrops from his forehead that would stream down on his face. He waved at her, and she waved back.

"Seriously? She doesn't get a penalty kick for that?" Luna asked.

"It was more of them both running into each other." Lincoln corrected.

"Thish ish about ash mindlesh ash the other football shport Lynn sheemsh intereshted in." Lisa flatly remarked.

"Lisa, I don't think now is the time to bash Lynn's sport. It could mess with her comfy dense." Leni said.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "Itsh confidence."

"Riiiight." Leni replied.

"Come on, Lynn." Lynn said to herself. "You heard Lucy, don't think about him. Focus on winning the game first, then let him blow up in your face. Wait I don't want him to blow up in my face. So should I avoid him? No, I gotta ask him the big question about staying!" Lynn huffed in frustration.

Adam could see Lynn was having some kind of war within herself. It looked like she was confused yet aggravated about something. "Is she talking to a ghost?" Adam asked himself.

Lynn mentally pushed the subject far into her mind so she could focus on her game. "Just don't think about it." She told herself.

* * *

The first half of the game ended with Lynn's team nearing victory. But as the second half started the other team they faced started coming back and managed to tie the game. Lynn had been going at it the entire time, somehow never losing much energy with the motivation to win.

Their coach called for a time-out and brought the team in for a quick discussion. "Ok girls there's only 20 seconds left before this game ends. This is the winning point right here, we either win it or tie. Get the ball downfield and pass it to whoever's open so they can score, alright?"

The girls agreed and broke away from the time-out discussion. The rain finally slowing down for the final defining moments of the game.

"C'MON LYNN YOU CAN DO IT!" Lincoln shouted.

"YOU GOT THIS! JUST LIKE WE PRACTICED YESTERDAY!" Adam shouted.

Lincoln looked over to where he heard the slightly deeper voice. "Was that Adam?" He asked himself.

"Sounded like him, didn't it?" Luan asked.

Mr. and Mrs. Loud looked to where the voice was coming from. Seeing the young boy soaked in clothes but encouraging Lynn. "Well what do ya know? He's here. Why isn't he wearing a jacket? The poor boy is soaked!" Mr. Loud said.

"What should we do? Lynn needs us to support her for these last few seconds of the game." Mrs. Loud stated.

"We might as well stay put. Maybe when the game is over Lynn can catch him before he leaves." Mr. Loud said.

"Let's hope he doesn't leave before the game's over." Mrs. Loud said.

"Mom, they spent most of the day together yesterday. I doubt he'll be leaving anytime soon." Lori stated.

* * *

"Ok last few seconds...gotta make it count. Gotta make it count!" Lynn said silently to herself. Her and Adam prepared for a situation just like this. Despite Lynn possessing the endless amount of knowledge and training to know what to do in this situation, she was still nervous. This was an important game and she intends to win it like all the other difficult season ending games.

With the final whistle being blown, the ball was in play. Lynn sprinted to the goalie box as the ball was being kicked around violently and rolled towards their opponents side. "Ten seconds left." Lynn said to herself.

The ball was rolling right in front of her running path. She brought her leg back and kicked it forward. The goalie managed to block it but in the process knocking it up in the air. Everyone stared at it as time seemed to slow to a crawl.

 ** _Five seconds left_**...

Lynn jumped into the ball's path. She brought her leg up and kicked it as hard as she could. She landed on her side and waited for what was to come next. The ball curved into the left corner of the goal and made it in just as time ran out.

The Louds, along with Lynn's team and a few other families all cheered in unison. Adam pumped his fist in the air. "Yes! Way to go!" He shouted.

Lynn was hoisted up into the air by her peers, cheering for their victory. They won the final game of the season.

* * *

Lynn stood next to her teammates in a line while they were given trophies.

"Lynn Loud, you received a #1 gold medal, and The MVP award!" Her coach congratulated.  
Lynn happily held up her awards to her family in the stands. They cheered more. "WE KNEW YOU COULD DO IT SIS!" Leni yelled.

Lynn looked over and spotted Adam still watching behind the fence next to the bleachers.  
"Here goes nothing..." She hurried over to him to ask him the big question.  
"Adam!" She said vaulting over the fence.

"Good job Lynn! Nice ending goal." Adam complimented.

"Thanks! Um, listen I gotta tell you something." Lynn said.

"What is it?" Adam asked.

"You remember my family right?" Lynn asked pointing to her family that stood on the bleachers.

Adam turned and saw them all waving at him. He waved back and turned to Lynn, "Yeah. Really nice family that's extremely huge, and chaotic, how can I forget?" Adam jokingly remarked.

Lynn rocked back and forth on her feet trying to settle her nerves. "Yeah, and you know how we talked about your 'problem' the other day?"

Adam's smile decreased slightly. "Yeah?"

Lynn looked off to the side, "Um... I kinda told them about it."

Adam looked at her with wide eyes. "You told them?!" He said in a low voice so her family wouldn't hear.

Lynn nodded and winced, "Yeah."

"What the heck, Lynn! What happened to not telling anyone?" He asked throwing his hands up.

"I'm sorry! I know you didn't want me to tell anyone! But an idea popped up in my head, and I had to tell them in order for it to happen." Lynn protested.

"What?" Adam asked confused.

Lynn sighed, "I'm not comfortable with being a good friend of yours knowing you're homeless when there's something I can do about it."

Adam raised an eyebrow at her, "What're you trying to say?"

"It's not what I'm trying to say, it's what I'm trying to ask." Lynn replied.

Adam stared at her waiting for her to go on with her question. Lynn hesitated for a moment trying to make sure she wouldn't mess this up. "I know you may not be comfortable with this. But would you want to stay?" Lynn continued.

Adam had a feeling that he knew what she meant. But he needed her to clarify before he jumped to conclusions. "Stay where?" He asked.

"Stay with us. My family and I." Lynn replied.

Adam was at a loss for words. He was almost relieved but at the same time scared. He's never lived with a stable family before, most of his life was spent in a foster home that was horrible before he later spent three years with his equally bad adoptive parents. "But what about all of you guys?" He asked.

Lynn looked at him quizzically. "What d'you mean?"

"There's eleven of you. Eleven kids in that house is very chaotic already. What makes you think they'd accept a twelfth?" Adam asked.

"I already talked to my parents about it. They say they're fine with it." Lynn replied.

This seemed too good to be true to Adam. He's already met her whole family. They're really nice people, despite the chaos, they really grow on you in a short amount of time. He'd finally be with a family who'd treat him like a human being. "Really?" He asked in disbelief.

Lynn nodded.

Adam looked back at the Louds again. They smiled at him, he smiled back. But he turned back to Lynn with concern on his face. "But what if they don't like me?"

Lynn smiled at him, "They already met you, Adam. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let you live with us if they didn't like you."

Adam still looked unsure about living with them. Almost frightened. The last time he lived with a family he was treated horribly. Even though he trusted Lynn and liked her family he still felt like there had to be a catch. Lynn could see the conflicted emotions within his face. "Adam, it's fine. We won't treat you like they did."

Adam slowly nodded, "I...I trust you. It's just that I'm used to living on my own."

"That's the thing, Adam. You shouldn't be. You're only thirteen. I'm your age and I can't live by myself, that's too lonely." Lynn replied.

"But what if they don't..." Adam started panicking.

Lynn grabbed him by the shoulders and stopped him mid sentence, "Adam, stop overthinking it. Everything will be alright."

Adam hesitantly nodded to her trying to calm his nerves. "Ok."

"I just feel..." He searched for the word.

"Happy?" Lynn asked.

Adam shrugged, "I think. Maybe."

"Scared?" Lynn asked again.

Adam nodded, "Very."

"You're with a loving family, Adam." Lynn reassured.

"I know, I'm just scared that I'll do something wrong or mess something up." Adam replied.

Lynn signaled the rest of the Louds to join them. "You won't. Just be you." She smiled at him.

Lola and Lana were the first to run up to him. "Hey is it true?! Are you gonna be our new brother?!" Lana asked.

Adam slightly laughed. "I guess I am."

"Sweet! A second brother!" Lana said excitedly to Lola.

"Maybe he'll come to my tea parties." Lola replied.

"Or help me make mud pies!" Lana added.

"Girls! Give him some space!" Mrs. Loud demanded. She locked eye contact with Adam. "I'm guessing Lynn already talked to you about staying?"

Adam nodded, "Yes ma'am." He gave her a serious look. "I'm kinda shocked you guys would actually take me in."

"Well when we heard about the situation you were in we had to do something." Mr. Loud spoke up.

"I don't know what to say, Mr. Loud." Adam said looking back and forth at Mr. and Mrs. Loud.

"You don't need to say anything." Mrs. Loud replied.

"Don't worry about calling us Mr. and Mrs. Loud. You can call us Mom and Dad." Mr. Loud said.

Adam gave him a heartfelt smile, "I never called anyone that before."

"Welcome to the family." Lori said.

Adam felt a spark inside of him. He felt like a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders, instantly feeling joyful. Though, not wanting to show, he just smiled more. "Thanks."

"Before we take you anywhere, did you have any plans? Anywhere you were planning to go after Lynn's game?" Mrs. Loud asked.

Adam shook his head. "Not at all."

"Well that's perfect. Why don't you come with us now?" Mrs. Loud asked.

"I'd be happy to!" Adam replied excitedly.

"Wait a minute." Luna spoke up grabbing everyone's attention. "First things first, dude. You need a new getup." Luna said.

Adam looked down at the soaked clothes he had on. "Yeah. Guess it is time to ditch these."

"We might need to get Adam an inflatable mattress." Mr. Loud said to Mrs. Loud.

"Who's room is he going to sleep in?" Mrs. Loud asked.

Everyone turned to Lincoln. Adam following suit. "I can't fit an air mattress in my room." Lincoln replied.

"Do you think Adam could sleep in your room?" Mrs. Loud asked.

"Sure he can." Lynn answered. "I slept with Lincoln in his room before."

Lincoln nodded. "True."

"As did I, at the same time." Lucy spoke up.

"Looks like he's sleeping there until we think of something else." Mr. Loud said.

"Now that that's sorted out can we get Adam some clothes that aren't soaked?" Lori asked.

"Do you have something in mind?" Adam asked.

Lori shrugged and gave a smirk, "I have a little something in mind."

* * *

"Is he done yet?" Lana asked Luna who was leaning on the wall next to the door.  
Luna knocked on the bathroom door. "Hey bro, you finished yet?"

"Almost." Adam replied behind the door.

After hearing the movement of fabric for a few more moments the door finally opened. Adam walked out wearing a blue shirt with a big yet smooth white check mark on his chest. He wore black shorts that had horizontally white strips that started from the sides and slanted a little to the front. The outfit was complete with black socks and dark running shoes.

"Looking sporty." Luan quipped.

"Yeah looks good." Luna complimented.

"Really? Leni and Lori said this was good to wear for athletes." Adam replied.

"Well living with an athlete teaches us a thing or two." Lori said glancing at Lynn.

"Speaking of Lynn." Lincoln spoke up. "You're outfit kinda rivals her's."

Lynn took Lincoln's word for it and further analyzed the boy's outfit. Black and Blue vs Red and White. She shrugged. "Yeah so? He's got the color of bruises and black eyes."

Her siblings collectively gave her a look. "But." Lynn added. "I like how it looks."

"The shirt feels really breathable." Adam said. He looked down at his shoes and jogged in place, "The shoes feel so good on my feet!"

"Hey would you be up for throwing the ol' pigskin?" Lynn asked.

Adam looked up at her "Yeah. But a little later. I gotta get used to the house."

"Oh. You don't wanna do it now?" Lynn asked.

"No not now, but we can do it later I promise." Adam said.

"Hey why don't we show you around?" Leni offered.

"Where do we start? I've only been in the backyard, front yard, and family room." Adam said.

"We can start with our rooms. In case you need to talk to one of us. We'll skip Lynn and Lucy's room for now, give her some time to rest." Lori replied.

Lynn shrugged and turned to her and Lucy's bedroom.

* * *

Lynn walked in her room and kicked her shoes off. Relief coming to her freed feet when they touched the floor. "Lynn?" Lucy suddenly called out.

Lynn was too tired to even jump up scared. "Oh hey Luce. What's up?"

"A question just came to me. Did you invite Adam to stay because you liked him, or because you were being a good friend?" Lucy asked.

"Both." Lynn happily replied plopping onto her bed. She finally had time to rest. Especially after all that happened so far, the big game, Adam...but wait, did she just say both?! Lynn propped up like a dead person from the grave. She turned to Lucy with an urgent look. "Wait! I take it back!" Lynn said.

"Too late. You already said it. I already know." Lucy replied.

Lynn hopped off of her bed and kneeled on the side of Lucy's bed and clasped her hands together. "No no! I swear! I meant I like him in a friendly way! Lynn said.

"Lies. I said: 'did you do it because you liked him or because you were being a good friend'. I made sure they both meant something else and you said both." Lucy said.

Lynn bit her lip while her eyes darted around the room looking for answers. "I thought they were the same thing?" Lynn said unsure.

Lucy turned her head to her, Lynn couldn't quite tell if she was looking directly at her but it felt like it. "You knew the difference, Lynn. You can't lie about it."

Lynn sighed in defeat. "Just don't tell anyone, ok?"

"I'm trying not to squeal in excitement." Lucy replied.

"Please Lucy. If you told the girls, and Lincoln, they won't stop bugging me, and worse they'll start bugging Adam about it." Lynn begged.

Lucy shrugged. "Why not let Adam know?"

"Cause I don't know if he feels the same way I do. Besides, the last time I liked a guy like him it ended really bad." Lynn replied. She shook her head to shake off her thoughts. "Look let's not go there, ok? Adam is a new member of the family let's just stick with that, alright?"

Lucy grabbed her book of poems and began reading some old ones. "You can't hide your emotions."

"I don't have any emotions." Lynn replied flatly. "I was born and bred as a sport machine."

"Hmm." Lucy mumbled.

"Let me know when Adam wants to throw the ball later." Lynn said. She rested her head on her pillow and blacked out almost instantly.

* * *

Chaos. Utter chaos. The house full of footsteps. Despite one of the Louds sound asleep, the addition of another child was almost like nothing changed. Adam was being dragged from room to room doing different things. He was dragged out of Luna and Luan's room by Leni. "I gotta show you this skin smoothing cream."

"Are you sure I should put that on? I'm working up a bit of a sweat and I might sweat that off." Adam said.

"It's only supposed to smooth your skin, not your sweat." Leni replied.

"Leni come here really quick!" Lori shouted over all the commotion. "I need your help on what outfit we need to put on Adam next!"

"Coming!" Leni shouted. "Don't move! At all!" Leni told Adam before prancing off into her and Lori's room.

Adam froze in place like he was told and waited for Leni to return. A door down the hall opened up suddenly. Lana walked out all dirty and muddy from outside. "Adam!" She gave him a devilish grin. "Let's do a quick game of Mud-Dodgeball!"

"Now's not the time Lana!" Adam replied frantically. "I gotta stand still here for Leni and Lori."

"Good! It'll be a quick game then." Lana replied grinning wider.

"Aw, that is SO cheap!" Adam replied.

Without warning, the young Loud threw a blur of mud. There was so many. Adam stared at them trying to figure out which way he could move without getting pelted with dozens and dozens of mud balls. He finally took action and decided to simply zip left, right, duck, jump, do just about anything but stand still. He heard a ton of splats against the door behind him. He stopped when the splats ceased. He turned and saw the bathroom door riddled with mud balls. "Lana this would've been a better thing to play outside." Adam said.

Lana shrugged, "You win this time. Next game's gonna be harder, trust me."

Adam sighed a breath of relief.

Leni suddenly opened her door. "Adam!" She scolded. "I told you not to move! Now look what happened! There's mud all over the bathroom door!"

"Leni, I was being pelted with mud balls. I don't wanna get these new clothes dirty already!" Adam defended.

"Excuses, excuses." Leni replied. She grabbed Adam's hand and brought him into her and Lori's room.

"Whatever you do don't put me in girl underwear!" Adam added.

* * *

"Lynn?" Lincoln called out.

Lynn moaned in her sleep and shifted her position to face away from him.

"Lynn!" Lincoln called again shaking her.

Lynn slowly opened her eyes, "Whasat...wha?" She mumbled.

"You took a long nap." Lincoln pointed out.

"What's going on?" Lynn asked rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Well we showed Adam around, but now it's a little bit chaotic. Everyone's doing their thing and now that he's here we're trying to do our thing with him." Lincoln said.

Lynn sat up slowly, "Where is he now?"

Lincoln peeked out of Lynn and Lucy's room for a moment. He brought his attention back to Lynn trying to hold in a laugh. "You'd want to see this for yourself."

Lynn slipped out her bed and stretched out before walking to Leni and Lori's room. "Adam are you in here..." Lynn froze as she spotted Adam. He was wearing a long blue skirt, sunglasses, and Lori's summer hat.

"D'you think that'd look good for when Bobby and I go to the beach later?" Lori asked.

"Yeah but don't you wanna swim? Why not just wear a bikini?" Leni asked.

"Adam...what are you doing?" Lynn asked almost laughing out loud.

"I'm being a dress model for them." Adam replied.

"You look so goofy! HAHA!" Lynn said beginning to laugh.

"Go ahead, laugh it up." Adam replied crossing his arms. "How long is this gonna be girls?" He asked Leni and Lori.

"Not much longer." Leni replied.

"Wait. We forgot the other dresses." Lori said opening their closet to show a dozen more dresses to wear.

Adam stared at the closet, "There's more?!" He face palmed himself. "Why did I agree to put on these dresses?"

Lynn wiped away a tear as she managed to stop her laughing. "Anyway. You up for throwing the football around?"

He gave Lynn with a tired look, "Sorry Lynn but I told them I'd help them with these dresses."

"Aw come on. Why can't Lori just put them on and take Leni's word for it." Lynn asked.

"Because we prefer a third opinion." Lori answered. "Besides, it saves me the hassle of putting on all these dresses."

"A burden that I gotta carry now." Adam added.

"Sorry." Lori apologized with a smile.

"But Adam you promised you'd throw the football around with me." Lynn slightly whined.

"I'm sorry, but you were asleep and they needed me at the time." Adam apologized.

"Why didn't you wake me up?!" Lynn asked with a little anger.

"I wanted you to rest! I thought you were tired!" Adam defended.

Lori's expression hardened a little. "Come on, Lynn. Give him a break! He wants to spend time with all of us, not just you!"

Adam opened his mouth to try to calm the two down. But Lynn beat him to it, "Fine! I don't care anymore! Go ahead and cross dress for all I care!" She stormed out of their room and into hers.

Lori turned to Adam and saw him hang his head a little. "Don't worry about it, Adam. She's really hot headed at times. She'll cool off in a little bit."

"I didn't do anything wrong..." Adam looked up at Lori confused. "Did I?"

Lori shook her head. "No. She just gets mad easily sometimes."

Adam sighed. "Ok."

Lori could tell he was feeling down. She pat him on the shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. She won't stay mad forever."

Adam's face expression didn't change.

"Tell you what, we can do this another time. Mom and Dad are gonna call us down for dinner anyway." Lori added.

"So that means I can change back into my new clothes?" Adam asked looking up again.

"Yeah. They'd have us take that dress off of you anyway." Lori joked.

"Kids! Dinner time!" Mrs. Loud called.

"Right on cue." Lori remarked smiling. "Come on, let's get that dress off you."

* * *

One by one the Loud children walked down the steps in order to eat. The younger Louds, including Lincoln, went to the kids table. Everyone else, including Adam went to the grown up table. Adam taking the extra spot that was open where Lincoln sat at when he tried to stay at the grown up table. The plates were already set up, food steaming ready to be devoured.

"Hey Adam have you ever eaten steak before?" Mr. Loud asked.

Adam nodded, "Yeah. I've even made it before too."

"Was it when you worked at the restaurant?" Luan asked.

"Yea. I learned how to make a lot there! All kinds of stuff through breakfast, lunch, and dinner." Adam said.

"Cool, do you want a medal for that?" Lynn grumbled.

Everyone at the grownup table looked at her. She was frowning while she ate her food.

"What was that, Lynn?" Mrs. Loud asked.

"Nothing." Lynn replied.

Even if Mrs. Loud didn't hear it, Adam did. He cleared his throat. "Uh...yeah...I could help you guys cook one of these days."

"Kiss up." Lynn grumbled again.

This time Adam faced her, already annoyed. "Are you still mad about before?"

Lynn stared at her food not answering.

"I already told you I was sorry!" Adam added.

"Oh yeah, that makes everything better." Lynn said sarcastically.

"What did you want me to do?! I was trying to be generous and give you time to rest before doing anything else!" Adam shouted.

"Well maybe I didn't wanna rest! Ever thought about that?!" Lynn shouted back.

Everyone's heads moved back and forth as the two yelled at each other. The little argument earning the attention of the younger Louds at the other dinner table.

"Lynn, you've been acting so nasty lately. What's wrong?!" Adam asked.

"Nothing is wrong with me, Adam." Lynn shot back.

"You've been moody ever since you woke up! What? Is it your period or something?!" Adam yelled.

Lynn's cheeks turned a bright red and her eyes grew wider. Everyone had the 'oh sh*t' look on their face.  
Lynn couldn't hide her embarrassment, "No! How are you supposed to know what a period is when you don't even know how to use a simple remote?!" She yelled.

Mrs. Loud glared at Lynn, "Lynn!" She said in disbelief.

"They teach all that stuff in health class. But unlike you I never had anyone in my life to show me how to use a damn remote!" Adam yelled back.

"Adam! Watch your language!" Mr. Loud said.

Lynn and Adam scowled at each other in distaste. A long moment of hate in each other's eyes as they despised each other's existence. The tension growing by the second. But it was cut off as Adam suddenly moved out of his chair and walked off. "Adam, you have not been excused young man!" Mrs. Loud said.

Adam turned back and looked at her. "I'm sorry Mrs. Loud but that's another thing my parents never taught me. That I needed to be excused from a dinner table." Adam said looking over at Lynn for the last part. He walked outside shortly. Everyone at the grownup table looked at Lynn unsure of what was to come up next.  
Lynn kept the same angry look on her face, still staring at the door that Adam walked past.

Mr. Loud cleared his throat and managed to grab the young athlete's attention. "Lynn, you should go apologize to him."

Lynn stood up outraged. "Why?! He just brought up something personal!"

Mr. Loud sported a very stern look on his face, "He did, and I will talk to him about that. But you brought up something a lot more personal than that unnecessarily."

Lynn sat back in her chair and stubbornly looked off to the side. Adam brought up her period because of how she was acting. She was only tired! She had a long day. Nothing about her period, and he didn't have to bring that up. But then again, it was very rude of Lynn to bring up his unpleasant past and the ignorance that he couldn't do anything about. She didn't want to apologize because of what he said, but she knew what she had said probably hurt his feelings more than what he said to her. With another moment to gather her thoughts, Lynn scooted out of her chair and went outside to talk to Adam.

* * *

The young athlete spotted Adam sitting on the porch. She walked over to him and sat down next to him. The two hesitating to speak a word to one another after the heated argument. It's supposed to be easy right? People do it all the time in movies, you just walk out there and talk to them. But it's a lot harder than it looks.

Lynn finally broke the silence and started the conversation. "Hey."

"Hey." Adam responded in a monotone voice staring straight ahead.

"Look, I know I said some things that were pretty rude." Lynn said.

Adam shook his head, "That argument shouldn't have started in the first place. I was being too pushy." Lynn silently disagreed in her head. "First day here and I'm already causing trouble." Adam said with his head down. "I'm not used to living with anyone. Maybe it's best I stay homeless."

Lynn looked at him surprised. "No. Adam it's not you. I've just had a long day. I had a long soccer game the day after I fought my old best friend, and then we invited you to stay with us and the house was chaos like it always is."

"That's why I was so skeptical on your offer." Adam said looking at her. "You guys have a lot on your plate already, I'm just dead weight."

"Adam we talked about this, you matter just as much as everyone else does." Lynn replied.

"But do I? I can't seem to catch a break with anything! I got abandoned, lived in a horrible foster home, then lived with horrible adoptive parents. Now, I'm starting an argument with the one girl that convinced her parents to let me live with her family." Adam said.

"Adam, arguments are a part of life. You can't live without them, especially in a house with thirteen people." Lynn replied.

Adam stared ahead again, "I'm the fourteenth exception I guess, huh?"

"As a family we're always gonna have our bad moments. You can't escape that, you just need to make sure those moments don't sever you from us. Like now for example, this is just a small dinner table argument. We can move past this." Lynn said.

Adam gave Lynn a serious expression. "I really am sorry about earlier. I knew you wanted to throw the football around, but I assumed you were too tired and I wanted to see the whole house."

Lynn shook her head. "I'm gonna be honest. I didn't want to share you with my siblings. I thought that if you started to mess around with them that you wouldn't want to do anything with me." She looked down feeling ashamed.

"Lynn, you're the only best friend I had in awhile. I'm never gonna stop doing things with you." Adam said.

Lynn looked him in the eyes and smiled. "Really?"

Adam nodded. "Since it's getting dark out we can play any sport you want tomorrow."

Lynn let out a little chuckle. "Sounds like a plan. Wanna come back inside now?"

"Definitely." Adam replied standing up and helping Lynn up. They walked back inside and noticed the faces studying theirs to see if they were still bickering. "Sorry about that." Adam apologized.

"It's fine. We gotta get used to you like you gotta get used to us." Lori replied.

"Probably won't be a quick process." Adam remarked smiling.

"We're counting on it." Mr. Loud said smiling back.

* * *

Before long it was time for bed after the dinner. Adam walked up to Lincoln's room and looked around. "Uh, I know Mom and Dad said I'm supposed to sleep in here..but I don't know if I can fit anywhere."

Lincoln chuckled, "Trust me. You're only a few inches taller than Lynn, she was able to sleep in the bed with me along with Lucy. I'm pretty sure you can sleep in the bed too."

Adam looked at the bed unsure. "If you say so." He climbed in the bed and almost swooned at the feeling. "Ahhhhhhhhh it's sooooooooooo soooooooffffffft."

"Heh, well you can get used to it. Cause you and I are gonna share this bed." Lincoln said.

"Lookin' forward to it." Adam said with his eyes closed.

"Y'know, you're like the big brother I've always wanted." Lincoln said. "Don't get me wrong I love all my sisters it's just that I've always wanted a brother too."

Adam smirked, "You're like the little brother I never had but really wanted."

"Glad we both meet each other's expectations." Lincoln remarked.

Adam laughed a little. "I'd talk to you more but this bed's got me noddin' off."

Lincoln nodded. "I can understand. My sisters can wear anyone out within one day."

Adam moaned in agreement. "They can. But I like it. G'night lil' dude."

"Goodnight, see ya in the morning." Lincoln said before drifting into sleep.

* * *

Adam opened his eyes to a new morning. He lifted himself off of the bed he shared with Lincoln and looked around. "Lincoln must be up already. Whew! That was the best sleep I've had in years!" He said silently.

Adam sleepily stepped out of Lincoln's room. He looked around the halls and to his surprise they were clear. "Where is everyone?" He asked himself. He silently stepped through the halls and listened for more chatter. He stopped once he heard a lot of young voices coming from Lori and Leni's door. They were being loud enough to the point where he barely had to press his ear to the door.

"There's been a bit of shortage on food. Surprisingly. I don't know why, I can't really explain it." Lori said to her other sisters and Lincoln.

"If my hypotheshish ish correct. The metabolishm and hunger rate of Adam should be at itsh peak right about now shince he ish a growing boy." Lisa concluded.

"So he ate the food that was in the fridge last night?" Luan asked.

"I mean if you mentioned all the timesh where he probably didn't eat at all, yesh. Hish body musht be trying to make up for the losht nutrientsh." Lisa replied.

"So you're saying we have to put up with this?" Lana asked.

"That's not fair!" Lola agreed.

"Guys, Lisa just stated that his body is trying to get nutrients. It's not like he's eating everything on purpose." Lincoln protested.

"You're suggesting he's doin' it on accident?" Luna asked.

Lincoln winced, "I don't know. He probably can't help it."

"He actually could. If he hash enough will power to ignore hish hunger need, and enough pain toleranshe to endure the feeling of hish shtomach ashid eating away at hish shtomach lining." Lisa stated.

"Waitaminute, you're saying he could ignore the urge to eat?" Lynn asked.

Lisa shrugged, "Under extreme circumshtancesh, pretty much."

"C'mon guys we're literally asking him to torture himself!" Lincoln protested.

"Don't act like you don't like his eating habits either, Lincoln." Lori remarked.

Lincoln looked down. "I don't like it, but I don't know what else we can do."

"There's not much we can do." Lori said. "We just gotta deal with it."

A few collective groans filled the room. Adam backed away from the door hearing enough. Were his eating habits that bad? Mr. and Mrs. Loud allowed him to eat whatever he could eat before they went to sleep. Though they probably didn't mean to clean some of the fridge. But he got hungry in the middle of the night and got a little carried away. He was more shocked that Lynn didn't have his back, showing that she didn't like his eating habits either. Out of all the Loud siblings, Lincoln coming in second, Adam cared about what Lynn thought the most. That made his daring decision all the more easier to make. "Well...if they don't like my eating habits...then I just won't eat." Adam concluded walking back to Lincoln's bed. He felt his stomach growl signaling that he probably just made a really bad mistake.

* * *

 **End of chapter 4. This one took a long time to write, but despite the length, it was fun writing. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know about how you felt about this chapter. I don't know how long the next chapter will take to be uploaded, but I'll try my best to make it soon!**


	5. Chapter 5: Bad Memories

**Holy shit I am really sorry for making you guys wait 2 months and an extra day. Like honestly I can't even comprehend how torturous that had to be. I got super busy with school, followed with my new job, not to mention reading other fanfics in the process and kind of bringing down my confidence seeing how good those were compared to mine, which ultimately slowed down my writing. But I finally got it done. And this one is once again the longest chapter I have written for the loud house. I hope you aren't too mad about the wait and enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Lincoln walked out of his room smelling the scent of hot freshly made breakfast. "Come on, Lynn. Breakfast is ready." He said walking down the stairs.

"I'm coming down." Lynn replied in a light toned voice. Lynn walked out of her room and was about to follow Lincoln down the stairs. But she noticed Adam didn't come out of his and Lincoln's room. She hesitated before walking to Lincoln's door and opening it. She saw Adam still laying in the bed. "Up and at 'em, breakfast is ready. You can come eat now."

Adam could tell by the change in her tone that she was thinking about his eating habits. "You can go ahead. I'm not hungry."

Lynn looked at him surprised. "Y-you're not?"

"Nope." Adam replied.

"R-really?"

"Yep." Adam said still facing away from her.

Lynn became a bit worried. Did he overhear them talking about his eating habits? That's impossible, Lincoln made sure he was asleep before he went into their room. She slowly backed out of the room but turned back. "Are you sure? There's pancakes and all kinds of stuff down there."

"Yeah I'm sure, Lynn." Adam replied.

Lynn stared at him wishing he'd turn around. She'd be able to tell what he was thinking if she could read his face. "Ok um...just make sure you eat later on, ok?"

"Will do." Adam replied.

Lynn hesitated to leave the room still thinking over the subject. But after figuring Adam would think something was up, she walked out of the room and went down the stairs.  
Adam was thankful she left, his stomach growled angrily at him. Yearning for food.

"Ignore it. Ignore it."

It'd be easier to ignore his human instinct to eat if every breath he took wasn't filled with the scent of a kitchen full of day starting breakfast.

* * *

Lynn walked down the stairs looking a little on edge. The four oldest Loud siblings were in the kitchen eating their breakfast while the younger siblings sat at the grown up table and ate. Lincoln, who was chowing down on pancakes, was the first to notice Lynn's expression. "You ok, Lynn?"

Lynn slightly shrugged. "Yeah I'm fine. Something's up with Adam."

"What d'you mean?" Lincoln asked.

"He said he wasn't hungry this morning."

"Yeah but he ate a lot last night. I'd expect him to be full in the morning." Lincoln replied.

"But he never turned to face me. He was in your bed turned towards the wall the entire time and he didn't even sound tired." She looked around and made sure their parents weren't close so she could whisper the next part. "You think he heard us talking about his eating habits?"

Lincoln stopped eating entirely for a moment. He looked Lynn in the eye seeing her serious expression on the subject. "He couldn't have. I made sure he was asleep. Leni and Lori's door was closed anyway."

"But Lincoln you didn't hear how he sounded. He sounded like a robot, no emotion, like he tried to hide something." Lynn replied.

"Lynn I think you may be overreacting." Lincoln added.

Lynn frowned with some anger apparent due to her brother brushing everything off. "I'm not overreacting! Adam's a sensitive kid. I don't want him doing anything that could hurt himself."

Lincoln could see Lynn was genuinely worried about the situation. He could understand knowing Adam has been a good friend of hers for a while. He turned to Lisa for answers. "What do you think about this situation Lisa?"

Lisa adjusted her glasses and looked at her brother with sleepy eyes. "Given the statistics, the human body could potentially survive up to three weeks without food. But Adam is a growing thirteen year old boy. His body isn't developed enough to go for a long time without food and survive. I'd say if he did give up eating for our sake then it would only last a day." Lisa concluded.

"So we don't have much to worry about?" Lincoln asked.

"He wouldn't last long due to the strong messages his body gives him to eat again." Lisa replied.

Lincoln turned to Lynn with a smile. "See? Everything's alright. If he was to stop eating it'd be short lived."

"What?!" Lynn gasped with a frightened expression.

"I meant the not eating part will be short lived."Lincoln added.

Lynn was still edgy on the matter. She couldn't tell if Adam wasn't eating or if he was. Normally the Loud siblings would be able to notice when someone wasn't doing their average everyday thing. But Adam was still new to most of them, there wasn't a pattern that he followed that they could pick up and get used to yet. Lynn sighed. "Just don't bring it up too blunt with him ok? I don't want him knowing we talked about it behind his back, he might be hurt by it."

"I think I can keep an eye on him. He's my new roomie after all." Lincoln stated.

"An eleven year old looking after a thirteen year old?" Lisa asked. "Where's the logic in that?"

"I managed all of you guys once." Lincoln defended.

"Pfft." Lisa scoffed with a wave of her hand. "Please. You barely lasted three minutes with all of us."

"Hey, managing nine chaotic sisters for five whole minutes should be considered a world record." Lincoln protested. "I don't even know how Lori could do it all the time."

"She has been living in this world for a longer period of time than all of us. Seventeen years brings a lot of knowledge." Lisa said. "Though not enough knowledge to rival my own intellect."

Lynn waved her hands to grab both of their attention. "Guys! We're going off topic!"

Lisa cleared her throat. "Right you are. I conclude that all of your worries will be gone by tomorrow." She moved out of her chair and made her way to her room. "If you have any other questions on the matter you'll know where to find me."

Lynn watched Lisa travel to her room at an average speed. "But I wasn't done talking about the situation..."

"Noted. But I have a few questions of my own that I would like answered." Lisa replied.

Lynn quirked an eyebrow curiously.

* * *

Lisa walked to Lincoln's door before going to her room and pushed it open. "Adam?"

Adam turned and looked at her from the bed. "Lisa?"

"Greetings. I would like to know if I could borrow your erythrocytes to find out more about your deoxyribonucleic acid." Lisa said.

Adam stared at her dumbfounded. "Wha?"

Lisa sighed. "I need to borrow your blood to find out more about your DNA."

"My DNA? What's there to find out? I'm human just like you?" Adam asked.

Lisa held up a finger. "Correct. But I'm not collecting DNA to see if you're a Homo Sapien. I'm collecting it to see what's in your blood. Cultural and racial wise."

Adam's eyes grew wider with curiosity. "You mean you can find out what I am?"

Lisa nodded.

"But I thought I was only African American?" Adam asked.

"It is a possibility." Lisa said rubbing her chin. "But now adays it's not likely for anyone to just be one culture or race."

Adam shrugged. "Well I'm definitely curious about it. Count me in."

Lisa turned and gestured Adam to follow. "Come with me."

Adam followed Lisa into her and Lily's room next door. The smell of singed hair, chemicals, and baby powder hit him as soon as he stepped in.

"Take a seat on the bed. I'm going to use a small machine to draw blood from your finger." Lisa informed.

Adam did as he was told and held his hand out.

"This might sting a little." Lisa warned before the machine pricked his finger.

"Yeow!" Adam shouted in pain.

His cry of pain was met with a dull glance from Lisa.

"Sorry. I didn't expect the sharp pain. Kinda caught me off guard." Adam apologized.

Lisa rolled her eyes. "You withstood a world record pitch to the groin and can't seem to handle needles."

Adam had shouted loud enough for the other sisters, and Lincoln, to hear from downstairs. They looked towards the stairs curiously.

"Did that sound like Adam to you guys?" Leni asked.

They all nodded. "Sounded like he got hurt or somethin'." Luna added.

Lynn stood up from the table. "I'm gonna go check."

She scrambled up the stairs, hoping Adam wasn't dying of starvation already.  
She grabbed the corner of the doorframe to Lisa's room and used it to slingshot herself into the room. But she came to instantly regret that decision when she flew full force into Adam on the bed. She quickly sat up and placed a hand on Adam's face to steady herself. Adam grunted as the weight being applied when she leaned smushed his face.

"What're you guys doing?" Lynn asked.

"Lisha'sh taking shome teshtsh." Adam spoke as his smushed cheeks made his speech difficult to understand.

Lisa could see the skeptical look Lynn was giving her, thinking the tests were involved with him not eating anything. It was obvious Lynn thought she was being blunt and upfront about that. "These are tests to see what type of DNA he has."

Lynn's eyes widened. "Y'mean..his heritage?"

Lisa raised an eyebrow a little impressed. Normally Lynn wouldn't be able to catch on so quick to anything she would talk about but now must've been one of her bright moments. "Precisely. I'm a bit impressed you followed so easily."

Lynn looked at Adam and removed her hand from his face. "Adam? You're alright with this?"

Adam rubbed his cheek and nodded. "Yeah I want to know as much as I can! Maybe not about the people who didn't want me. But about what I am."

Lynn moved off of him and sat next to his feet, holding her legs in between her arms. "Well as long as you're fine with it." She turned to Lisa with a curious look. "How long's this gonna take?"

"You cannot rush science. It may take a while, so go do some activities. You youthful brutes shouldn't have trouble finding something to do." Lisa concluded.

"Heh." Lynn faced Adam again with an excited expression. "Looks like we can do our own little thing for a while."

"Sports it is then." Adam optimistically said.

"We're gonna be doing a lot today, so bare with me." Lynn warned jumping off the bed.

Adam shrugged and looked at Lisa. "How bad could that be?"

* * *

"Bad…..very, very bad…." Adam said to himself. It was a bit of a challenge to keep up with all the activities Lynn would have him do, but with enough energy he could manage. The problem was that he had no energy. Having a completely empty stomach and running around definitely wasn't a good combination. Good thing water wasn't out of the equation for his diet.

Lynn wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Whew! Can't believe we went through like five different sports in a few hours!"

Adam bent over and held his weight on his knees. "Yeah.." He panted. "Most of those were foreign sports."

Lynn looked at him quizzically, "Huh?"

"Y'know, like Cricket. Or rugby." Adam added.

"Well I got another sport we can do that isn't quite that foreign." Lynn offered.

"What's that?" Adam asked.

"Wrestling."

Adam already felt uneasy. Especially spotting the devilish smirk on Lynn's face. "Wrestling?"

Lynn simply nodded still giving him a smirk.

"Couldn't we do something else? Maybe basketball?" Adam offered.

"Nope. Ya can't wimp out on my now. Besides, you were tackling me when we played rugby." Lynn replied not giving up any ground.

"I wasn't tackling you directly. I only jumped for your legs and grabbed them. You did the rest by falling." Adam admitted.

"Really? You weren't trying then either?" Lynn asked.

Adam shook his head.

"Ok well that's gonna change. This time you try. I want you to go all out, if you don't then don't expect to be given any mercy." Lynn declared. She stood up and faced him with a wrestle styled stance.

Seeing no easy way out of this, Adam caught his breath and faced her as well. The athletes squared off in the grass with intent stares. "Remember what I said. Don't go easy on me." Lynn ordered.

Adam felt uneasy to wrestle Lynn without being gentle. For one it was against his nature to go all out on one of his friends. This was especially harder for him since Lynn was a bit more than a friend to him. He liked her more than a friend. Yet she was challenging him to not hold back against her. He tightened his stance, thinking about the disaster that was about to unfold. If Lynn had her favorite wrestling mask the situation would be all the more sweeter for her. But Adam was happy she didn't have her mask on. He could see her grinning, and her face usually gave away when she was about to strike. Just as he suspected she cracked a little smile and her foot shifted. He took notice and placed both feet in front of him as he squatted ready for an impact.

"¡LUCHA LIBRÈ!" Lynn roared charging at him. Too into the moment to notice what Adam was doing, Lynn ran straight into his hands while her guard was down. He grabbed her shirt, rolled back, and kicked her off all in one move. Lynn slammed down on her back and grunted from the unexpected start.  
Adam held his head high, trying to spot any clear pain on Lynn's face. Lynn was quite impressed with Adam's clever move. She let out a small chuckle, much to Adam's worry. Did he just break her? Was she about to go berserk from a crazy rage that suddenly unleashed itself? Lynn stood back up, rubbing the pain off her back. She rolled her shoulders to loosen them up, turning to Adam.  
"That was passive, but strong nonetheless." She cracked her knuckles, "But now I know you aren't playing around. No more Mrs. Nice gal."

Adam tightened his stance. His adrenaline coursing through his veins seeing that instead of ending the tussle, he'd gone and gotten Lynn's hopes up. She hadn't been this excited to wrestle someone since the last time Lincoln willingly wrestled her. There was no getting out of this and he knew it. He closed his eyes and exhaled, in efforts to settle his nerves. After a few seconds of breathing he opened his eyes back up. His heart nearly jumped out of his chest. Lynn had moved from her spot within seconds without any noise.

"What the?!" Adam said panicking. He snapped his head left and right trying to find his opponent. He began backing up in his frantic search for the girl, forgetting to check behind him. He could hear sudden rushing footsteps from behind. His eyes widened as he realized he left a wide open spot that was about to be attacked. "Oh sh- OOF!"

Lynn had tackled him with enough force to take him off his feet. If there was any moment in his life when he played football and got tackled, it was considered child's play compared to what Lynn had accomplished. He fell on his front, Lynn landing on his back adding more weight to the impact. Her laughter filled the air as she put Adam in a camel clutch. "Looks like Lunatic Lynn's gonna take the W early!" Lynn chanted.  
Adam resisted the wrestling move he was suddenly put in. In doing so with enough time gave him the opportunity to wrap his legs around Lynn's torso since she was leaned back so far. He pulled her back with his legs and caused her to drop him. Her legs came over her head and kept her stuck like that. But she suddenly felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her stomach and lift her off the ground. She tilted her head up and noticed she was staring right at the ground. "Oh no..."

Adam was in the position to deliver a nasty pile driver. Despite them being on grass this would definitely pack a punch and leave a good bruise. Lynn covered her head waiting for the impact to come. But she felt herself lightly get put back onto the ground. "What the?" She asked to herself, turning around to Adam.

Adam shrugged.

"C'mon, Adam! Actually try! This is getting boring!" Lynn complained.

"If I try, you'll get hurt." Adam warned.

Lynn let out a frustrated moan. "I already told you not to hold back! I'm not a baby! Now start trying before I hurt something of !"

Adam sighed. He couldn't hold this off any longer, no matter how much he was against it. Lynn was obviously too hyped and excited for him to hold back against her. If she was to get him in a hold during the excitement she could potentially break something of his on accident. Every thought in his mind that told him to hold back, every excuse to be gentle, began to cease as it clicked in his mind that there was no other way to end this wrestling session.

Lynn jumped at him without warning once again. Slapping her left hand on the right side of his face and pushing him down to the grass with her. He could smell the grass and dirt on her sweaty palms as it pressed against his stinging-in-pain face. But annoyed of the hand that obscured his vision, he kicked his right leg up and over Lynn's head, swiftly bringing it back towards her and bringing her down by the neck. Since she was in between both of his legs it set up his next move. His leg roughly pinned her head down, hard enough to almost make her cry out in pain. He put his left leg on top of her chest in order to make sure she couldn't get up easily. Lynn fought against his leg and put her right hand under her back trying to push herself back up. Her efforts got cut short as Adam effortlessly pushed her back down with his right leg, pinning her right arm underneath her. What followed next was in the events of many UFC matches, as Adam leaned forward to grab Lynn's left arm and pulled it back with him when he laid back down.

Lynn noticed she had awoken something Adam hid from her this whole time.

Adam pulled Lynn's arm back as he pushed his pelvis forward, beginning to bend her elbow backwards.

"Ow! Adam, that hurts!" Lynn exclaimed.

"Oh no you don't. You aren't getting me this time with your bluff." Adam responded holding tighter.

"No this time I'm not messing around!" Lynn replied.

"Alright, if you aren't lying then tap out." Adam said.

Lynn gritted her teeth trying to fight to bring her arm back so she wouldn't lose. But Adam's grip and his legs were too strong to pull her arm out of. Her only option to stop this was to beg.

"Adam, please, I give up!" Lynn pleaded.

"Nuh-uh. You gotta tap out." Adam replied.

Lynn hated the thought of tapping out. But at this point it was that or to receive a broken arm and have to sit out of all sports for a while. She tried to move her right arm but realized it was pinned under her body.

"I-I can't!" She winced in pain.

"Lynn if you really think I'm dumb enough to fall for this a second time then you got another thing coming. Hurry up and tap before you arm breaks." Adam said.

"Adam, I- AH!" Lynn exclaimed feeling her muscles and elbow stretch beyond its comfort zone with the feeling of a broken arm imminent. Adam curiously looked down at Lynn's arm. He noticed it was red with tension that he had no clue about until now. He instantly panicked and released her arm.

She rolled out from under his legs and gripped her elbow with her right hand. "Geez, Adam! Were you actually trying to break my arm?"

Adam knelt down next to her trying to make sure her arm was still in one piece. "No! I didn't mean to! I thought you were bluffing again! Are you ok?"

Lynn sighed to herself. "I guess that's my fault then." She turned to Adam with a calm face, "I think I'm fine. After all, I did tell you not to hold back and you listened." She smiled at him, "Good job."

Adam felt relief wash over him. He avoided a disaster by the skin of his teeth, thankful Lynn wasn't angry at him. He chuckled, causing Lynn to raise an eyebrow. "What?" She asked.

"I beat you." He replied in a smug tone. "I just beat the Lunatic Lynn Loud in a wrestling match."

Lynn rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So what? You beat me. Good for you."  
Annoyance apparent in her voice.

Adam smiled at her still wanting to rub it in. "You used to be undefeated in wrestling until I came along! This isn't just an average win, this is a championship belt being lost."

Lynn's annoyance only grew as Adam basked in his glory. "Shut it, will ya?" Lynn blurted out punching Adam's arm with her left arm. Her arm gave out from the punch, still in pain. "Ow! Dang it."

"Heh." Adam laughed not even phased by the punch. "You might wanna put some ice on that."  
He stood up but almost fell over, noticing the adrenaline rush he had was now gone and he still hadn't eaten anything since last night.

Lynn took notice of his exhausted state. A bit concerned he nearly face planted after all that pent up energy he released. "You don't look too good yourself, dude. Maybe we should take a little break."

" _Maybe_?" Adam repeated giving her a look.

"Ok fine, we _will_ take a break. I guess going at it with all sorts of sports for a few hours _can_ be exhausting." Lynn replied.

"I may be able to outmatch you in a fight. But you can definitely outlast me. I'll give ya that." Adam said.

"You can't outmatch me." Lynn retorted. "You just got me all caught up in the excitement."

Adam gave a little chuckle, seeing the girl take such a low blow as to lose for once in a wrestling match allowed him to understand her reaction. "It's alright, Lynn. I can see your pride is hurt a little so I won't bring it up too much."

"Thanks." Lynn sarcastically remarked with an annoyed look.

"I'm just happy to be able to beat someone as good as you." Adam added. Lynn's annoyed look disappeared as she looked up at him. "You mean that?"

Adam simply nodded in response.

Lynn gave him a smirk, "Well, I could care less about gloating when you put it that way."

"Glad to hear that." Adam said.

"Hey Lynn! You or Adam, it doesn't really matter, can one of you get the mail?" Mrs. Loud called ending their conversation.

Lynn stood up and dusted herself off. "Sure thing, mom!" She caught a glimpse of Adam almost falling over again from the corner of her eye. "Are you alright?"

Adam nodded and fell back on his rear to rest. "Yeah...I just need to...recover.." He said through breaths.

Lynn gave him one last look over before taking his word for it and walking back to the front to get the mail. "Nearly fell over twice. Maybe I should give him more than five minutes to rest."

The young athlete made her way to the driveway. Still able to spot the car that dropped the paper off. But a familiar voice that rang in her ears growled something behind her. "Lynn."

Lynn turned around confirming her expectations and putting on a frown. She spotted a black eye where she punched her the other day. Too angered by her presence alone to laugh about it.

"Maddison. You here to get another fist to the face?" Lynn threatened clenching her fists.

"Calm down, Lynn. I'm not looking to throw any punches. Today." Maddison replied.

Lynn crossed her arms not convinced. "Why are you here then?"

Maddison raised an eyebrow and held an unamused expression, "You forgot, genius, I live in this neighborhood too."

"Did ya have to walk past _my_ house in the process?" Lynn asked.

Maddison shrugged, "I thought I saw Adam over here yesterday. Actually sleeping here."

Lynn noticed Maddison knew something was up. But she didn't want to tell her, the she-devil would make things worse if she found out what was going on. "What's it to you? Are you his girlfriend now or something?"

"Hell no." Maddison harshly shot. "I just like to know about things that go on around me."

Lynn was a few moments away from bashing Maddison in the face again. "I don't care about what you like to know. He's had a hard time and we're being there for him." She was about to turn and leave but Maddison's next question stopped her from moving.

"He's here isn't he?"

Lynn looked at Maddison with annoyance. "Yeah, he is. What about it?"

Maddison looked as if she tried to stifle a laugh. "Don't tell me. You've been playing sports with him this entire time haven't you?"

Lynn shrugged. "Is there something wrong with that?"

"You don't remember Lex Agnus ?" Maddison reminded.

Lynn's memory suddenly came back to her like a flash flood. Bad memories returning from the depths of her mind that she wished she had forgotten. "What're you trying to say?" Lynn asked. Her voice sounding more worried than angered.

"Don't you remember how he broke it off with you since all you revolved around was Sports, sports, and more sports? That's all you ever wanted to do with him. He got tired of that just as fast as Adam did." Maddison said.

"Adam never got tired of it. He's having fun with me every time we play a sport." Lynn countered.

"Really? I can see it in his face." Maddison added. Peeking over Lynn's shoulder to see Adam laying on the ground.

Lynn looked over at Adam who was exhausted. Wiping his forehead from the sweat he worked up. "No, he's just tired." She replied.

"Yeah. " Maddison sneered. "Tired of all the stuff you're putting him through."

Lynn turned back to Maddison, contemplating about her evil yet convincing words.

"Think about it, genius. It always looks like his sole purpose is to be a human punching bag for you." Maddison added

Lynn looked at her with a loss of words. Clearly giving Maddison's words some serious thought, unintentionally letting her negativity get to her.

Maddison simply smirked. "For all you know he's just faking his merriment just to make you happy. Or to make sure you leave him alone instead of bugging him."

Lynn looked down at the ground.

"I'll see ya later. Just giving some words to think about." Maddison added evilly before continuing on her walk the same way the car had driven.

Lynn looked back at Adam's exhausted, stretched out form. "He does like it..." She paused as she tried to convince herself with that last sentence. "Doesn't he?"

After some thought that provoked her to stay away from Adam for a few more minutes, Lynn ran inside in order to get a few more opinions on the matter.

* * *

Lynn gave the newspaper to her father. Earning a thank you from him and Mrs. Loud. She walked into the family room looking around for anyone to talk to about this situation. A few giggles from the kitchen grabbed her attention. She made the short walk into it and saw Lori typing away on her phone with a big smile. No doubt she was texting Bobby, what an oddly convenient moment this was.  
"Lori, you got a sec?" Lynn asked.

"Yeah, I'm just texting Bobby back and forth. What's up?" Lori answered.

Lynn nervously played with her thumbs. "Did Bobby ever get annoyed of your company?"

Lori gave Lynn an unsure look. It was super rare that she would EVER ask about her relationship life, or anything about relationships in the first place. "Well yeah, a few times. Why? Is this about Adam?"

"Shhh!" Lynn hissed putting a finger to her mouth. "He's right outside ya know!"

Lori giggled at her sister's reaction. "Right. I forgot about the whole secrecy thing."

"Now's not the time for that. I just need to figure something out." Lynn replied.

"Like what?"

"You remember Lex right?" Lynn asked.

"That Agnus guy?" Lori questioned.

Lynn nodded.

"Yeah. Wasn't he the guy that didn't like you? I already told you that he was a waste of time anyway. Why're you thinking about him?" Lori asked.

Lynn looked a little troubled. "Well...I've been thinking about something. He didn't like me because of my huge love over sports and all that. Because I played them too much or referenced them too much. I'm starting to think the same is happening to Adam."

Lori looked at Lynn surprised at what she was saying. "Why would you say that?"

Lynn gave a sad shrug, "Lex is just as athletic as Adam is, maybe a little less. But think about it, I'm doing the exact same thing to Adam that Lex hated. We've been playing all sorts of sports for hours today for crying out loud."

"Lynn, I'm sure if Adam didn't like any of this that he would've told you by now. He's a good kid, you guys seem like good friends." Lori replied walking up placing a hand on Lynn's shoulder.

"But Lex didn't say anything about it either. He pretended to like it, just so I'd shut up about it." Lynn said.

"That's because Lex was an inconsiderate jerk. I'm telling you, Adam's different. I'm positive that he loves it." Lori assured.

Her words went in one ear and right out the other to Lynn. The athlete looked down not too convinced by her sisters kind words. Her inner conflict was evident on her face enough for Lori to see her words did little to nothing. "Just give it some thought before you do anything rash." Patting her sister on the head to give her a little more comfort, she made her way to the door.

"Where're you going?" Lynn asked.

"I'm about to go get ice cream with Bobby. I was gonna bring Lincoln with me since Bobby wanted to bring Ronnie Anne. But I found out recently that Ronnie came down with a little cold, and eating ice cream wouldn't really help that." Lori replied. "I'll see ya later." Lori left the door open knowing Lynn was about to come back outside.

* * *

Lynn walked out into the backyard and saw Adam tossing the football around to himself. Seeming to have recovered enough to not be panting and sweating. She instantly grabbed his attention and caused him to stop throwing the ball. "Hey Lynn. Wanna toss the ball around a little?"

Lynn walked up to him looking at the grass. "Yeah I guess."

Adam took her monotone voice as a result of her exhaustion. He shrugged and turned around about to make distance between him and Lynn. But a sudden question from Lynn stopped him.

"Adam, are you sure you like this?" Lynn asked not looking at him.

Adam turned to look at her, only a few feet away from her. "Yeah, I like it." Adam replied.

That was the same thing Lex said to Lynn when she was younger. Lynn looked Adam in the eye with a serious expression. "Adam if this is boring you then tell me!"

Adam seemed a bit skeptical. He thought she was trying to mess with him or test him on something. He smiled thinking he was playing along with something. "Lynn, I don't know what you're going on about."

"I'm not kidding! Tell me the truth, is this actually fun to you? Are you enjoying any of this?!" Lynn questioned.

Adam's smile disappeared once he saw the seriousness on Lynn's face. "Yeah I do."

"Just tell me the truth." Lynn begged tearing up.

Adam couldn't believe what was happening right before his eyes. Lynn Loud crying? That seemed impossible, let alone the fact she was doing it in front of him. It seemed more likely that Lynn would actually end up enjoying Lincoln's comics before she cried in front of anyone. Adam looked at her sympathetically. "Lynn, what's wrong?"

"Don't ask questions, just tell the truth." Lynn repeated.

"I am! I enjoy it! Why are you asking me this?" Adam asked.

"Don't lie to me, Adam." Lynn angrily said as a tear shed from her eye.

"Lynn I'm not lying! I swear! What's got you acting like this?" Adam asked.

Lynn looked down in sorrow, unable to hold her emotions back. "I need to be alone right now!" She said rushing inside.

She left Adam there, bewildered, confused. "Wait, Lynn! Come back!" Adam said running after her.  
She had a good head start on him, but he managed to keep up. He ran after her up the stairs hoping to grab her and find out why she was sad. But as soon as he got to the top of the stairs she slammed the door in his face.

Adam slightly banged on it. "Lynn! What's wrong? What did I do?"

"Go away!" Lynn shouted with a little sadness.

"Please! Why are you sad?" Adam urged.

Lynn didn't respond. She sat on her bed hugging her knees while facing away from the door. Angry that she was crying and that Adam saw it.

Adam sat down in front of the door waiting for her to come out.

The other Loud siblings stepped out of their doors to see the problem. "What happened?" Luan asked.

"I don't even know!" Adam replied. "She asked me if I enjoyed playing sports with her, then she broke down and ran into her room!"

"Did you say you didn't like it?" Lana suddenly asked.

"No! I tried telling her I do like it!" Adam said. He let out a sigh. "I'm so confused."

Lincoln peeked his head out from his bedroom. "Lynn's crying?" He was pretty shocked himself finding out about this. It's been awhile since Lynn cried around any of the Louds and they were aware of it. Adam's distress caught Lincoln's eye quickly. An idea popped into his head seeming to know a way to solve someone's problems. "Adam, can I talk to you really quick?" Lincoln asked.

Adam turned his attention towards the white haired boy, still stressing over the situation. "I don't know if now's a good time to do that."

"Trust me, you're gonna want to hear this." Lincoln insisted.

Adam gave Lincoln an unsure look for a moment. He reluctantly stood up and gave Lynn and Lucy's door one more glance before joining Lincoln in his room. "I'm guessing you heard the commotion?" Adam asked.

"Yeah. That's why I called you in here." Lincoln replied.

Adam gave him a confused look, "Huh?"

"It's about Lynn."

"I swear, Linc. I didn't mean to hurt her feelings." Adam informed.

Lincoln held his hand up. "No I get that. I'm just trying to tell you that there's other things you don't know about her."

"What kind of things?" Adam asked.

Lincoln thought to himself for a moment. "Let me think of a way to say this." Lincoln took a few more moments then came up with a way to say it. "If Lynn gets into a physical fight with someone around her age, she's got a high chance of winning. But if she gets into a verbal fight she has a lower chance of winning."

Adam's face twisted in confusion trying to break down what he was hearing.

"Simply put, if she gets into a verbal fight she'll lose." Lincoln added.

Adam nodded. "Yeah I get it. Once they start throwing words instead of punches she'll start losing?"

Lincoln nodded in agreement. "Pretty much."

"Ok, but what does that have to do with what's happening now?"

"Well you're an exception for both scenarios." Lincoln said.

"How so?" Adam asked.

"You match Lynn's physical prowess, so you could actually go toe-to-toe with her and win." Lincoln stated. "Not to mention how she has gotten closer to you, so if you were to argue with her and say something it would actually affect her a lot."

Adam shook his head. "I can see that now, but I don't know what I said to upset her. I told her I liked playing sports with her but for some reason she wouldn't believe me."

"Hmmm." Lincoln hummed trying to think of a reason. He had no clue about anything that happened with Lynn in the past that would cause her to act like this. That knowledge was something he didn't possess.

He shrugged. "All I can say is to give her some time. She never likes it when anyone sees her cry, even us."

Adam sighed. "I don't like the idea of waiting."

"Sorry buddy, but this looks like a problem only time can solve." Lincoln said.

"Yo. Adam?" Luna suddenly called.

Adam and Lincoln both turned to Luna. "What's up?" Adam responded.

"My roadie Chunk just called me and told me there's a concert goin' on downtown. You ever been to a concert before?" Luna asked.

Adam shook his head. "Never."

"That's fine! This can be your first time!" Luna replied.

"Yeah, Luna helped me out with my first concert. Made it pretty memorable." Lincoln added. "Plus who else to make your first time awesome other than the best rocker in the world right here?"

Luna smiled at Lincoln's charisma. "Aw thanks bro. Hey you wanna come with? I think you'll like this one."  
"Mm, no thanks." Lincoln declined. "I promised Clyde that we'd watch The Crawling Deceased tonight. Neither of us can watch it by ourselves."

"That's cool, lil' bro." Luna said. "You wanna wait with me downstairs, Adam? Chunk's about to be here any minute now."

"Yeah, might as well." Adam replied following Luna out Lincoln's door.

Lincoln grabbed Adam by his wrist to stop him. Adam looked at the boy a little confused.  
"Incase you guys get back early I just wanna say that maybe you should wait til' tomorrow to talk to Lynn." Lincoln said.

The look on Adam's face showed him that he wasn't so keen on the idea.

"I understand you don't like that. But I've been her brother for years, trust me. Give her a little space."

Adam reluctantly nodded before following Luna downstairs.

* * *

"How's Casa Loud workin' for ya?" Luna asked walking into the kitchen.

"It's pretty good so far. But I think I'm going crazy whenever I'm in the bathroom. I keep hearing people talk downstairs really clearly." Adam said.

Luna chuckled. "Oh yeah, forgot to mention. There's a hole on the bathroom floor."

Adam's eyes widened. "A hole?! You mean you guys can see me while I'm in the bathroom?!"

"Haha, pretty much. But we respect your privacy so we don't look." Luna replied.

"Don't you guys ever think about getting that fixed?" Adam asked.

Luna sighed. "Yep. But our parents insist on fixing it themselves."

"Hmm." Adam hummed. "Maybe I can try to fix it?"

"You some type of carpenter now?" Luna questioned smirking.

"Nah. But I could make a good attempt." Adam replied.

Luna waved her hand. "Don't worry about it, man. It'll be solved at some point." She walked over and grabbed an apple from a fruit bowl. "You want anything?"

Adam shook his head while his mind and body was practically screaming yes.

Luna shrugged and grabbed the apple, missing the boys facial dilemma.

Adam peered at Luna's neck. Spotting a pair of headphones around it. That popped a question in his mind. "Luna did you hear anything that happened in the past ten minutes?"

Luna looked back over at him quizzically. "Nah why?"

Adam huffed. "You didn't hear Lynn yelling? Not even the door slam?"

"No." Luna replied, surprised she missed an event like this. "Somethin' happen between you guys?"

Adam sighed. "I guess. We were playing sports like normal, she left to get the mail and when she came back she kept asking me if I enjoyed playing all those sports with her. No matter what I said, she wouldn't believe me. She was so convinced that I was lying to her."

"What?" Luna asked trying to grasp the whole situation.

Adam nodded. "Then after that she cried and ran into her room. I guess she's avoiding me now."

"Wait-wait hang on a sec." Luna said holding up her hand.

"What?" Adam questioned.

"Did you say Lynn was crying?" Luna asked.

"Yeah." Adam replied.

Luna huffed, astonished. It's been forever since Luna saw Lynn cry. "That sounds really bad, dude." Luna concluded.

Adam nodded. "Yeah. I don't even know why she acted like that either."

Luna looked at her headphones in front of her. "Well maybe something happened to her before. Maybe someone really hurt her and she just doesn't wanna get hurt again."

"But I offered to throw the football around before she even started asking me those questions. Why would she think I would do whatever they did?" Adam asked.

"Hey man, if you got bit tryin' to pet a dog would you pet the very next one you see?" Luna questioned.

"Are you saying I'm a dog?" Adam asked offended.

Luna shook her head. "No, I'm trying to say that if you were hurt by something you liked once, then you're gonna be suspicious about it the next time you see it." Luna took a bite of the apple. "I know you aren't whatever made her sad the first time. But something about you probably reminds her of it, which is why you didn't need to do anything to get her upset."

"Wow." Adam spoke. "I don't know if that was a theory or whatever but that's a pretty good conclusion."

Luna took another bite of the apple. "Been through it before, bro."

"That makes sense." Adam replied.

Luna smirked at him. "But hey. Maybe there's more than one smart Loud in this house."

A honk could be heard from outside. Luna walked over and looked out the window. "Heh. Looks like Chunk got here faster than I thought." She finished the apple then threw it in the garbage. "You ready to go?"

Adam nodded. "I'm a little nervous so bare with me."

Luna chuckled. "Don't worry, bro. I've been to a ton of concerts. I'll be with you the entire time."

Adam felt a little relief accommodate his mind. Luna was shaping up to be someone he was getting really comfortable with.

"Hey guys! Adam and I are gonna go to the concert! We'll be back later!" Luna shouted.

"Be careful out there you two!" Mrs. Loud shouted back.

"Keep an eye on Adam, Luna." Mr. Loud shouted.

Luna grabbed Adam's wrist and led him out the door. When they came outside there was a yellowish brown van on the street. "Hey Chunk!" Luna happily greeted.

"Cheers love!" Chunk greeted back.

"Oh this is Adam, he's my new little brother." Luna said pointing to Adam.

Chunk looked at the boy with a warm smile. "Ello there lil' guy."

"Hey." Adam responded.

Luna opened the door and let Adam in before hopping in herself and closing the door.

"Were you guys hidin' him or somethin'? Looks biggah than Lincoln." Chunk said starting the drive.

"Nah, he's new." Luna replied, a little hesitant to tell the full story.

"'Ey lil' guy? Jus' ou'a curiousity, are you adopted by 'em?" Chunk asked.

Luna smacked Chunk's beefy shoulder. "Chunk!" She hissed.

"It's fine, Luna." Adam reassured. "Yeah, I am. They still need to do the papers so it's not official, yet."

"Oh." Chunk replied. "Orphan?"

Adam shook his head. "Abandoned."

Chunk almost cursed under his breath. "Sorry if I offended ya, lad."

"You didn't, I've told the story a ton of times." Adam replied.

"You road it out, huh?" Chunk asked.

Adam nodded, "Yep."

"I was like that when I was your age. Bunch a bullies, lil' wankah's they were." Chunk said. "Once I got biggah then 'em, they were too scared to mess with me."

Adam chuckled. "I bet you showed them what for."

Chunk nodded. "After I was done with 'em, they stopped bullying altogether."

"Nice." Adam said.

"Hey Chunk, heard anything about Mick?" Luna asked.

"No' recently. Might be tryin' to brainstorm for a song." Chunk replied.

"I've been doing the same thing. I'd love to show him my songs one day." Luna said.

"Who's Mick?" Adam asked, unknowingly sparking excitement in Luna.

"Mick Swagger is my idol!" Luna chanted. "He's the best of the best! The brightest of all the stars!"

Adam stared at Luna, taken back from her description. "...I'm gonna guess he's your celebrity crush?"

"Yeah..." Luna dreamily sighed.

"She can give ya a whole book on 'im." Chunk joked.

"Eh book later. Concert now." Luna replied.

* * *

"We'll see ya later Chunk!" Luna shouted.

"He's not coming with us?" Adam asked.

"Nah he's got stuff to do. Now feast your eyes on the glory that is the stadium!" Luna said. She wrapped an arm around Adam's shoulder and pointed at the huge stadium in front of them.

"Whoa!" Adam said in awe. "Is it always this big?!"

Luna chuckled. "Depends on where it is. C'mon the shows about to start, let's get inside."

Adam stuck his arm out in front of Luna. "I don't know if you noticed but that huge line isn't for concessions. How're we supposed to get in before the show starts?"

Luna grabbed his wrist. "I know a guy. Come this way."

"Is he way up ahead in the line?" Adam asked allowing himself to be pulled by Luna.

"Nah, even better, dude. He's one of the backstage guys!" Luna replied heading toward the back of the stadium.

"Backstage? What does that have to do with anything?" Adam asked.

"He lets us through, backstage." Luna said.

"Huh. I kinda feel bad about all the people we're cutting." Adam remarked.

"Eh don't feel bad about it. We aren't going in the line either way, so technically it isn't cutting anyone." Luna replied.

They stopped at a tall black door. Luna knocked on it a few times to grab someone's attention from inside. While they waited for someone to open the door, Adam took the time to admire his surroundings. This was the first concert he's ever been to, his old adoptive family went to concerts but never took him with them. They never wanted to take him, let alone ask if he wanted to go. This concert was going to be life changing for him.

The door swung open with a slender man standing at it. Decked out in all black, ear piercings all over his ears, and a large Mohawk to top it off. "Luna!" He greeted. "You should've gotten here sooner. You wouldn't believe how many people tried to get the front row seats I saved for you two."

"Front row seats?!" Adam repeated in disbelief.

"Thanks Brock. I owe ya one." Luna replied.

"No problem. Hurry! They're starting the song right now!" Brock replied.

Luna hastily pulled Adam by his wrist again into the backstage. They ran through a few people before coming out another door in front of the all the seats. Thousands of people were facing Adam and Luna, still waiting for the song to start.

Adam's eyes went huge. "Holy shit."

"Adam! Careful with the words dude!" Luna warned laughing.

"How many people are in the stands?" Adam asked.

"Few thousand, maybe more." Luna replied pulling him to their seats.

Adam was about to sit down, until he felt a pair of hands hold him up by the armpits. He looked at the person the hands were attached to, seeing Luna holding him. "Why aren't you letting me sit down?"

"Everyone's standing for a reason, bro. You'll feel the music better that way." Luna replied.

"What's wrong with enjoying it while sitting?" Adam asked.

"Have you ever heard the term/song scream, and shout, and let it out?" Luna questioned.

Adam shook his head.

"Well in this case, it means to feel the groove of the music. By jumping up and down, waving your arms everywhere, and screaming, you allow the music to enter your soul and you'll enjoy it more that way." Luna simplified.

" _ **HELLOOOO ROYAL WOODS!"**_ A sudden voice screamed through the speakers.

This was followed by a deafening scream from the audience.

"Geez." Adam exclaimed, briefly covering his ears.

"It's starting dude! Are ya hyped?!" Luna asked excited.

"The crowd definitely has me a little more aware. So, I guess." Adam replied.

Luna looked up on the stage and saw the singer stepping out. "Awesome!" She exclaimed.

Adam cocked an eyebrow. "Who's that?" He asked.

"Huh?!" Luna shouted cupping her ear to Adam.

"Who's that?!" Adam repeated louder.

"That's Maggie Jack!" Luna shouted.

"Maggie Jack?" Adam questioned.

"Yeah! A famous singer! Like Mick Swagger!" Luna shouted.

Before Adam could question anything else, Maggie started the song. Her vocals had started the song off strong. Majestically balancing between sweet and soft and hardcore singing. Luna and the crowd cheered nonstop, Maggie's singing still audible throughout it all. The chorus of the song was what made people really get into it. They would occasionally stop before the beat dropped and started the chorus. All this happened while Adam happily stood next to the chanting Luna. He had a bit of a hard time taking all this in at once, trying to enjoy, scream, shout, and let it out like Luna told him. With all the scenery, the lights, stage, people, screaming, all these things coming to a boy who had more hardships than good times it made it a little hard to focus on it all at the same time.

But as soon as the song started, it came to an end. The ending note earning an even louder applause from the crowd. The star Maggie held up a peace sign and walked backward until she disappeared into the backstage.

"What now?" Adam asked.

"There's a few more songs that's gonna be played tonight. It's gonna be ten minutes or so before the next one starts cause they gotta set up." Luna answered.

"Oh ok."

"You wanna go get somethin' to snack on?" Luna offered.

Adam shrugged. "Why not?"

Luna turned around to the people standing behind her. "Hey you mind saving these two seats please?"

"Sure no problem." One of them said.

"Cool, thanks! We'll be back in a little." Luna said. "C'mon, Adam." Adam followed the purple dressed teen to the concessions.

"You likin' it so far?" Luna asked.

Adam nodded. "Yeah it's pretty cool so far. A lot to take in."

They walked into the line. "Take your time with it. We got a whole night ahead of us. And if you wanna go to another one then feel free to ask!" Luna said.

Adam felt at ease. Luna's laid back personality, and caring nature gave Adam a feeling he never felt when he was with his old family. They never really cared about how he felt about anything. Rarely ever caring for him. He always did wonder why they adopted him in the first place.

"Thanks." Adam said.

"Ever had snow cones before?" Luna questioned.

Adam sighed. "Only heard of them. They sound really tasty, brain freeze inducing, but tasty."

"Hey don't get offended or anything, but how do you know about brain freezes if you never ate one before?" Luna asked.

"Health class. Science class. Don't need to experience everything in person to know something about it." Adam replied simply.

"Touché lil' dude." Luna added. She bought two snow cones for them. After eating some of hers she looked over at Adam and saw he was staring at the frozen treat. Seemingly trying to figure out where to start.

"You can just bite into it ya know." Luna pointed out after swallowing a mouthful of her snow cone. "Bite, slurp it, pour it in your mouth. Just don't eat too much at once."

Adam nodded. He stuck his tongue out and scooped the flavored tiny ice shapes into his mouth. "Whoa." He exhaled. "That tastes better than I thought it would." He chugged more of it, savoring the fruity frozen taste. "Ah!" He suddenly hissed, receiving a brain freeze.

"I told ya not to eat too much!" Luna repeated. "Push your tongue to the roof of your mouth."

Adam followed her advice, hoping to get rid of the icey pain he felt. "Y'know, that's my first brain freeze ever."

"It is?" Luna asked.

"Yep." Adam replied grimacing.

"Geez. This kid went thirteen years without one brain freeze. Wonder what else he's missed out on." Luna thought to herself.

That would have to remain a topic for another time. The audience began cheering once more, an oncoming song coming to the stage.

Luna almost panicked, she wasn't about to miss out on a song that was merely twenty yards away. "Adam we gotta hurry back!" She grabbed his wrist again and pulled him to get back to their seats.

"Is another song starting?" Adam asked with a mouth half full of a snow cone.

"Yeah! This time it's a band! Somewhat heavy metal, but rock nonetheless!" Luna replied tossing her snow cone in the distance.

They made it right as the band was starting. Drums, microphones, and guitars set up and ready to blast neighborhood waking music.

Luna stood with her fists clenched and a mile wide smile on her face. "I like this band a lot! Not as much as Mick Swagger, but still one of my favorites!"

" _ **Razor rockyard danger**_!" One of the singers chanted.

Adam chuckled. "Heh. They have some goofy lyrics."

" _ **Got kidnapped by a stranger**_!" They chanted again this time wiping the smirk off of Adam's face. He didn't expect there to be lyrics that would touch topics like that. Being kidnapped? Is this enjoyable to others?

" _ **My mom never wanted me anyway...My dad always wanted to throw me away**_!"

Adam started to feel a pit enter his stomach, chills being sent down his spine. While everyone, even Luna who was too much into the music to understand the lyrics were cutting deep into Adam, kept jumping up and down as the drums and guitars hyped them up. Adam cupped his hands over his ears. The song was starting to mess with his head, beginning to bring back horrible flashbacks.

" _ **You stupid boy**_!" The singers chanted. Yet to Adam's ears that voice belonged to a demonic voice of a man.

Adam tried to shake the voice from his head. "No." He said silently.

" _ **You deserve no joy!**_ "

Adam shut his eyes and grimaced. "No! Stop it!" He said.

" _ **He took his hand! Hit me when I couldn't understand**_!"

Visions of being smacked around by this man flooded Adam's mind. Vivid visions. As if he was reliving the nightmare. Mistaking every accidental bump from Luna's jumping for a fist slamming against his body. He flinched away from her touch, still seeing the visions. His sudden movements alerted Luna, causing her to stop jumping and face him. "Adam?" She asked.

Adam was trying to block out the loud music. A look of terror could be see on his face. Luna took his hand off of his ear so she could talk to him. "Hey dude, are you ok?"

"Stop it! I didn't do anything wrong!" Adam yelled at her.

Luna looked at him bewildered and dumbfounded. "What?"

Covering his ears again, Adam turned and sprinted away from her. "Adam!" Luna shouted running after him pushing through the crowd.

He was fast. Not surprisingly seeing that he was just as athletic as Lynn. But this type of speed was different from average running. He was running like he was being chased by something. By someone. Someone he was terrified of. Yet the only person running after him was Luna. She was unnerved, as Adam ran like his life was depending on it.

But something clicked with why Adam ran during the song. Something must've triggered something inside him. "Oh no!" Luna said. "The lyrics! I'm so stupid! I forgot this band is a bit too hardcore!"

She chased after Adam for a few more minutes until she followed him into a dead end with high walls.

Adam faced the wall, while his hands gripped his head. Shutting his eyes tight, waiting for the inevitable.

"Adam?" Luna asked turning the corner.

Adam shied away from her voice. "I swear it wasn't me! I didn't do anything wrong! Please!" He shouted.  
Luna grabbed a hold of Adam.

"Adam?" She shook him a little to bring him back to reality. But Adam only saw an angry man shaking him violently. Her shaking only put him in a panic mode. He threw his arms at her, rapidly, and violently. Luna did her best to dodge or block the sudden flurry of fists. But one of his blows managed to hit Luna on her left cheek. She yelped and moved her head back. Adam was still flailing at her trying to push her away. Luna quickly threw Adam down and sat on him with her shins on his back.

"Adam! Calm down!" She yelled.

Adam violently wiggled around despite not being able to move Luna's weight off of him.

"Adam! It's me! It's Luna!" Luna yelled again.

Adam slowly stopped wiggling around and listened for her voice. "H-huh?"

"It's Luna, Adam. Luna Loud." Luna repeated.

"Luna?" Adam asked looking around with his eyes.

Luna nodded. "Are you back to normal?"

"I..don't know." Adam replied.

"I'm gonna let you up now ok?" Luna asked.

Adam nodded.

Luna slowly moved and sat next to Adam cautiously. Adam sat up and crawled back to the wall he was next to. He looked at Luna and saw a red mark where he felt he hit someone. "Luna, did I do that?"

Luna felt her red mark and felt a little bit of pain by touching it. "Yeah I guess you did."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't control myself." Adam apologized.

"What happened, dude?" Luna asked.

"The lyrics. They reminded me of my old home. I saw my adoptive father." Adam replied.

Luna put a hand on Adam's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Adam. I didn't know the lyrics would've set you back like that."

"I didn't mean to lash out at you like that...all I saw was him...please understand, I had no intention to hurt you. I just got so scared." Adam said.

"It's fine, Adam. You were scared. I get it." Luna replied.

"I was more than scared. I was terrified. He…did things to me. For no reason. Horrible, torturous things." Adam said.

Luna could only stare. Not wanting to even think about how bad this boy's childhood was. Being THAT terrified of anyone wasn't anything that a thirteen year old needs on their conscience. "Wow...I'm really sorry, man." She said in a low voice.

Adam briefly looked away, hesitant on going on. "It's like this one song I heard before a while ago. A song that really represents my life pretty well. 'I was born in a thunderstorm.'"

Luna patiently waited for him to go on.

"When I was born... 'I had a one way ticket to a place where all the demons go.'" Adam quoted. "I could honestly go on, but I don't want to put you in a bad mood too."

Luna stood up and helped Adam up to his feet, trying not to cry in the process. "Don't worry about that. Let's just get back home." She pulled her phone out and dialed Chunk's number.

* * *

In Chunk's car no one said a word. Luna had told Chunk not to ask about what happened until after Adam went to bed. All she said was that something happened and they just needed to get back home.

Adam and Luna waved Chunk goodbye before stepping into the house. The two couldn't manage to say anything. With the awkward tension, who knew what to say? Adam breaking down in front of Luna for the first time sent chills through her body. Luna decided to break the silence, feeling that she couldn't let Adam go to sleep with what just happened without some comfort.

"Hey, dude. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for tonight. I should've known that band was gonna say things like that. I didn't mean for tonight to take a turn for the worse, and if you don't wanna go to anymore concerts with me then I understand."

Adam was beginning to walk up the steps but stopped after hearing Luna. He took a deep breath, in and out, before speaking. "It's ok. I don't hold it against you, I know you were just really excited for the band to play that you overlooked some things. I appreciate you taking us back home, despite how much you love concerts."

Luna nodded as he turned to walk up the stairs. But Adam stopped, and turned to Luna again. "To be honest, after tonight, I'd still be willing to go to another concert with you if you're fine with it."

Luna gave him a soft smile back. "I'd love to."

Adam smiled back. "Great. I'll see you tomorrow, goodnight." With that, he continued his journey upstairs.

"Night, lil' guy." Luna replied.

Adam stopped at the top of the stairs seeing Lynn and Lucy's room door closed. He wanted to talk to Lynn. Maybe she wasn't asleep yet? Maybe she'd be ready to talk? But as he reminisced over their little conversation earlier on, and his conversation with Lincoln, it seemed best to try again tomorrow.

Adam walked into Lincoln's room. To his surprise Lincoln was reading a comic of his, bedroom light still on.

"Oh hey, Adam!" Lincoln greeted. "How was the concert?"

"Not too good." Adam replied.

Concern was already on Lincoln's face. "Why? What happened?"

Adam shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I just wanna go to sleep for now."

"Oh." Lincoln figured it must've been pretty bad then. "I understand."

"Thank you. I'll tell you about it tomorrow. I just need some rest." Adam said walking over Lincoln's body to lay down.

"Ok. If you need to talk to anyone, just ask." Lincoln offered.

"Thanks." Adam said. Adam closed his eyes slowly. Replaying the ordeal in his brain. Something that wouldn't get off his mind easily as he slept.

 **Yeah deep stuff. The song Adam references to Luna is called Alive. It's sang by Sia, really good song, also really relates to Adam's life once you listen to it. As for the other two songs and singers , I just made em' up. Unless Maggie Jack is an actual singer that exists, I honestly don't know a singer of that name.. Also going back to the guy that broke Lynn's heart, y'know Lex Agnus? I created him right before the girl guru episode and I overheard the gym teacher from the episode calling Lincoln's teacher Agnus. So... Yeah... Lex has Lincoln's teacher's last name for a first name... and regarding Lisa's speech, I decided to stop using he sh's. It just makes the dialogue look too weird for simple sentences. She still has the speech thing though. I really hope you guys enjoyed this long chapter. You deserve it for waiting for so long! I don't know when the next chapter will be uploaded but hopefully it will be soon! Please review and let me know how you felt about the chapter, I'll see ya guys in the next one!**


	6. Chapter 6: Something New

**Hoooo boy. Honestly words can't explain how sorry I am for posting this chapter so late. I honestly had school to work with, and other things over winter break giving me slight writers block. I was writing the whole time, but at a slowed rate. I know the people that enjoy reading this fic have waited for this for a while, and let me tell you that you deserved this a lot sooner. I don't mean to make you guys wait so long for another chapter, it's just school in general that kinda gets me mentally drained. But it's a new year, so I should just power on through and get these chapters out sooner. Hopefully you guys still wanna read this so please enjoy.**

* * *

The next afternoon, Adam woke up with the terrible pain in his stomach. This time from hunger.  
"Uuuughhh I hate that feeling." He turned in the bed he was in. "But who's to blame for that?"

He suddenly felt something wet caress his cheek. "What the?" He mumbled slightly opening his eyes. Two more licks could be felt. Weirded out, he jumped up in the bed and felt something fall in between his legs. He rubbed his morning eyesight away and squinted at the white object. Once his vision cleared up he noticed it was one of the family pets, Charles. Looking at Adam like he had done something wrong.

Adam let out a breath of relief and pet the dog to reassure him. "Sorry, boy. You kind of startled me." Adam looked up and made a quick scan of his environment. Silence within the halls with just a few soft voices being heard in a further room.

"Hey, boy? You know where everyone is?" He asked looking at Charles.

Charles jumped off the bed and ran down the hall. Adam followed and spotted Charles patiently sitting by Leni and Lori's bedroom door.

"Are they having one of those meetings again?" Adam asked himself while walking to the door. "Thanks, Charles." He gently pet the dog on the head and watched him happily make his way downstairs.  
Adam pressed his ear to the door, listening intently.

"What're they called again?" Luan asked.

"Hallucinations." Lisa apparently repeated.

"That's when people see things that aren't really there right?" Lori asked.

"Yes." Lisa confirmed. "A figment of one's imagination, it could be positive at times, or it could be negative. She looked over at Luna. "Luna, you said he was running from something, right? Saying things like: 'I didn't do anything wrong.'? And telling you to 'stop' for no reason?"

Luna nodded. "He was terrified of something. I'm not gonna lie it really shook me up seeing him like that."

Adam felt a sudden urge from his body that was made an action without a second thought. He didn't notice what he did until he heard the two sudden knocks on the door.

A few silent murmurs could be heard in the room. By the sound of it they hadn't told Mr. and Mrs. Loud yet. The Loud siblings always believed they could fix a situation themselves unless it was a dire situation. This was just bad memories.

"Could it be Lynn?" Lana suddenly asked.

Adam froze. He turned his attention to Lynn's shut door. He thought she was in there with them. Was she still sad about yesterday? Mad? Confused? He knew HE was.

But a sudden gust of air from a door hit his face and brought his attention back to Leni and Lori's room. Now noticing the ten pairs of eyes staring back at him. Their faces looking like they were seeing a ghost, not that surprised to see him but a little on edge since he was the topic.

"Adam?" Lori called.

"Of course it is." Lola spoke. "Lynn's too tough to show her feelings. I swear that girl will never know how to open up to people."

"Do you want to come in?" Lori asked.

Adam hesitantly nodded, accepting the invite. Hearing the door close after he walked in.  
He stood in front of it, as all eyes were on him. The silence and tension in the room kept him from finding something to say first.

"You feeling alright?" Luna asked breaking the silence.

Adam almost thanked her, now finding himself able to speak. "Yeah. Why didn't you guys bring me in here to talk about this?"

Luna shrugged. "You were asleep, dude. I didn't know if this was something you wanted to talk about as soon as you woke up."

Adam rubbed his arm. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

"Is it alright if we ask you any questions?" Luan asked.

Adam reluctantly nodded for approval.

"What kind of things did you see?" Lori asked.

Adam tensed up noticeably. He looked down to avoid their gaze. "A monster."

"Monster?" Lana repeated.

Adam looked up and met eyes with Lucy. Or at least he believed he did. Those bangs sure did block anyone's view from her eyes pretty well. "Lucy, remember when I told you I've seen real demons before? The ones that looked like real people?"

"Yes. The people that wronged you in the past?" Lucy questioned.

Adam nodded. "That was one of them. My first adoption father."

A few silent gasps surrounded the room.

"Your first adoptive father? What's so bad about him?" Luan asked.

Adam gave Luan a dead serious look. One that burned an image into her mind, an image she would have a hard time to forget. "Everything." Adam finally answered. "He basically made life unbearable for me." He looked down at the floor with an angry glare. "All apart of his sick little game."

"He didn't have a reason for it?" Lori asked noticing Adam's fists clenching.

Adam shook his head. "Not one I noticed. He wasn't the only person to mess with me either."

"There were others?" Lola asked.

"The people at the foster home I was in, my old adoption mother. Basically like everyone outside of school was out to get me." Adam replied. "Lynn knows about this. Speaking of which, is she talking to any of you guys?"

The Loud siblings all shook their heads. "She's never really good at talking about her emotions." Lori stated. "She just shuts everyone out and keeps it inside."

Adam sighed. "I guess having a conversation with her is out of the question."

"Maybe. But Adam, we didn't have a sibling session here for her this time. We wanted to make sure you were alright after last night." Luna informed.

Adam couldn't help but smile with how he was being cared about. He still has to get used to that feeling."I really appreciate you guys caring for me. I'll admit, I was really messed up mentally last night. So bad that I didn't even want to say much to Lincoln." He gave Lincoln an apologetic glance. It was met with a genuine smile. Forgiving him without saying a single word. "But seeing you guys care for me makes me feel better. It alleviates all the pain I've held in my mind." Adam said.

"A lee v eight?" Leni questioned. "I don't get it. What does an eight have to do with anything? There's ten of us in here not including you. And who's Lee?"

Lisa adjusted her glasses slightly while sighing. "No, Leni. He means we get rid of the bad things in his mind."

The second oldest Loud sibling was visually pondering about Lisa's statement. But it seemed to click in her mind somehow once a big smile made its way onto her face. "Awwwwww!" She wrapped Adam up in a big hug. "Here's to more pain a lee v eights!"

Adam gave a light chuckle. "Thanks, Leni."

The rest of the Loud siblings in the room joined in on the hug. Adam felt like his mind was being swarmed with all kinds of emotions. One of them may have been confusion seeing how he was physically unable to move. Could've been the ten pairs of arms wrapped around him. But one emotion he was sure was there was happiness. Happiness coupled with comfort, warmth, love, and care. Something he hasn't felt in a while.

Lori separated from the hug like everyone else did once they felt it was long enough. "Hope that helped." She commented.

Adam nodded. "Helped alot. Thanks guys."

Lori gave a satisfied sigh. Looking around her siblings. "Well. I think that concludes this sibling meeting. You guys are free to go."

The siblings left the room by pairs. All having conversations of their own now on all types of topics.

It looked like everyone was beginning to do their daily antics. Lori, for one, must've had something in mind, being hesitant to start her daily routine. "Hey Adam, you got a minute?"

Adam was about to meet Lori's gaze until he caught a glimpse of a purple shirted brunette going inside and closing the door to Lucy and Lynn's room. "Uh...yeah...yeah I do." He replied in a distracted tone, as he stared the door down longer. "What's up?" He asked moving his attention towards her.

"I wanted to know if you were alright with hanging with Leni and I today. Seeing that Lynn's not herself right now, and since you hung out with Luna last night." Lori offered. "Also, before you answer, I know you might still be a little sensitive from last night. I get that what you saw made you feel scared, and I don't want you to feel that way every time you walk out of the house. You don't have to come with us if you'd rather stay here. Although I want you to go purely because I want you to experience new things. Plus this would be the first time we hung out together, but I wouldn't really want to force you if you-"

"Lori."

Lori froze mid sentence noticing she was rambling on.

"I'm completely fine with going with you and Leni. One bad bad memory at a concert with Luna isn't gonna make me stop hanging out with you guys altogether." Adam said.

"Phew." Lori exhaled easing up. "Glad you said something. I was about to give a whole presidential speech."

Adam smirked. "We'd be here for a whole hour wouldn't we?"

Lori nodded. "Pretty much. I swear I start turning into Mom when I give speeches or lectures."

"I bet." Adam replied. "What time are we heading out?"

"In a little bit. You slept through the whole morning." Lori mentioned walking to her closet.

Adam looked at her confused before snapping his head to the nearest alarm clock. 1:42 PM?! How long was he out for? Maybe his body was trying to reserve energy from the lack of food. Either way he was shocked that he got so much sleep. "I'm gonna get ready." He said moving to Lincoln's room.

"That'd be wise." Lori commented looking in her mirror to perfect her make-up.

"The day already started and I just woke up." Adam went over, coming down the hall.

"Lynn, there's some stuff we gotta talk about."

Adam froze. Luna's voice reminded him exactly about the suspicion he held not so long ago that he quickly forgot about. There's no doubt she was talking to Lynn. He zoomed next to the door, listening. He needed to hear everything.

"You and Adam went to the concert last night. Yeah I heard. Hope you guys had fun." Lynn said in an unenthusiastic voice.

"It's about that….something happened last night." Luna said.

Lynn's face suddenly snapped to Luna's direction, with fear evident on it. "Something happened?!" She asked giving Luna a concerned look and tone.

Luna held her hand out. "Nothing too serious."

Lynn's face softened a little, relieved it wasn't anything horrifyingly bad.

Luna didn't mean to make it sound like such grave news. She just felt guilty about it, feeling responsible for Adam's breakdown.

Adam on the other hand was the only one with some positive thoughts. Lynn's concern put his fears about the situation to rest. Even if she was avoiding him, she still thought about him. Check that off the "need to know" list.

"Last night...there was this band. They're known for singin' and jamin' about controversial things. They sang about being abandoned and never being loved."

Lynn stared at Luna incredulously. "Why didn't you warn him about that?!"

"I was too distracted with being hyped! I swear if I knew exactly what was going on I wouldn't have let him hear what they said!" Luna replied.

Lynn put a hand to her head. Just thinking about how much distress the boy was in gave her a headache. Out of all the other Loud siblings, Lynn was the one who understood Adam the most. She spent the most time around him. Talked to him more. Had the most in common with him. And when one of them wasn't feeling themselves, in more ways than one, they both shared each other's pain. "How was he feeling after the whole ordeal?" Lynn asked in a soft tone.

"He was definitely shell shocked. He was even hallucinating about his pops." Luna stated.

Lynn's focus on the subject only intensified at the mention of Adam's adoption father. As if the music itself wasn't bad enough, he had to be chased around by a monster that was in the deepest part of his mind.  
"His dad? THAT jerk? Geez how was he able to handle all of that happening to him at once?"

Luna shrugged. "It was hard to settle him down. For some reason when he saw me, he thought he was looking at his dad. He hit me one good time before I finally got through to him."

Luna could see Lynn was lost in her own world of trying to grasp the whole crazy situation. "But." Luna continued. "When we got back he seemed to be himself again. Still a bit shaken up but fine. He even said he'd be fine with going to another concert."

Lynn gave a weak smile. "Guess he's still got a strong spirit."

Luna nodded. "Y'know, before he went to bed, he stopped at your door."

Lynn looked a little worried at that statement. "He did?"

"Yeah. It looked like he wanted to talk to you, but then decided against it."

Lynn bowed her head toward the floor feeling like she contributed to his misfortune.

Luna stooped her head down to keep eye contact with her younger sister. "You should talk to him, Lynn."

"I...I can't." Lynn said.

"Why not?"

"It's complicated."

"Uncomplicate it."

"Luna..." Lynn whined.

Luna held her hands up. "I'm just trying to help, sis."

Lynn huffed. Luna was good at being persistent. "Do you remember the guy I told you, Luan, Leni, and Lori about?"

"How long ago was this?"

"A while ago." Lynn replied.

"Hmmmmmm." Luna mused.

"Does the name Lex ring a bell? Lex Agnus?" Lynn questioned.

Luna's face lit up as she snapped her fingers. "Oh yeah! I remember that guy! Y'know now that I think about it, his name is kinda like the opposite of Adam's."

Lynn quirked an eyebrow. "How?"

"Adam's first name starts with an A and his last name starts with an L. But Lex's first name starts with an L while his last name starts with an A." Luna explained.

Lynn blinked at Luna with a dull expression.

"Not relevant, got it. Please, continue." Luna said.

"You remember how he made me really sad, right? Like how I thought he really liked playing all kinds of sports with me all day everyday, just to find out he didn't like it at all and he basically broke it off with me and never talked to me again." Lynn said.

Luna went wide eyed. "Really?"

Lynn nodded.

"Oh yeah. I remember when I wanted to throw my Tubas at him." Luna angrily said.

"Well anyway, a girl who used to be my friend basically made a connection between Adam and Lex. I got really scared, I thought he was gonna ditch me like Lex did." Lynn said.

"Is that why you kept asking him if he enjoyed playing sports with you?" Luna asked.

Lynn nodded again.

"Lynn, you know Adam's a good kid. He wouldn't do anything to hurt you like that." Luna stated.

"You know how my emotions can be, Luna." Lynn defended.

"That reminds me, weren't you crying yesterday too?" Luna questioned.

Lynn sighed. "Yeah, and Adam was right in front of me when I did it. It was so embarrassing, and I'm still a little mad that he saw me doing it."

Luna gave Lynn a soft smile. "Lynn, why should it matter if he saw you crying? Crying is a human emotion, you shouldn't be embarrassed from it."

"Because," Lynn countered, "It makes me feel weak and vulnerable. I don't want people to see me as a helpless little girl."

"Look, Lynn." Luna started, rubbing Lynn's shoulders reassuringly. "I don't like it when people see me cry either, but it's nothing to be ashamed of. Sometimes we get emotionally frustrated and we just can't help it."

"I wish I could help it. It's just so hard to." Lynn spoke, lightly venting her anger. Luna gave Lynn a motherly smile. "You should never worry about being yourself around those who care about you. Adam's no exception, he'd be willing to give you his shoulder to cry on."

Lynn sighed. Everything Luna said added up and made sense. She was just having a hard time believing her 100%. "Well, regardless, could you not tell Adam about this? Y'know with Lex and all that? I'd rather tell him myself sometime today later on."

Luna held one hand up while the other was placed on her chest. "Ya have me word as a passionate rockah, mate."

"Thank you." Lynn breathed, relieved. She laid back and plopped into her pillow. "Now I gotta figure out what to do today..."

Luna chuckled, then hopped out of Lynn's bed and made her way towards the shut door. "You do that. I'm gonna go think up some lyrics for a new song I'm writing. Maybe even ask Lincoln for some help."  
As Luna opened the door her eyes widened. Her heart nearly skipped a beat, almost the same reaction she would have when Lucy appeared in front of her suddenly. But this time she didn't yelp. She couldn't. Adam was standing in the doorway and seemingly looking to talk to Lynn right away. Luna began panicking, if Lynn knew Adam was sitting there eavesdropping the whole time, she'd probably feel like her privacy was being invaded. Possibly pushing Lynn to be more secretive and never open up to anyone.

"Adam! What're you doing?!" Luna urgently hissed trying to keep her voice down.

"Hey, Luna? Is everything alright?" Lynn asked looking in Luna's direction.

Thankfully Luna stepped in front of Adam to make sure Lynn couldn't see him. "Uh yeah! It's just Lincoln." Luna lied. "He's tired, I'm just whispering cause he just woke up." She began laughing nervously.

Lynn quirked an eyebrow.

Luna spun Adam around and started pushing him down the stairs all in one movement. "Hey Lincoln, why don't we talk about the lyrics to my new song I just wrote?" Luna rushed him down the stairs like the house had been caught on fire. Adam legs were moving like a roadrunner just to keep up and not face plant from the speed they were going.

They made their way into the kitchen where they were far enough from Lynn and Lucy's room. Luna finally stopped and looked back to check and make sure they weren't followed.

"Luna, why'd you do that?" Adam asked facing her.

"You weren't supposed to hear any of that, Adam! Lynn didn't want you to know about that whole conversation!" Luna scolded.

"I should know about it!" Adam defended. "I spent the entire day yesterday feeling like I did something wrong, when in actuality, I didn't. Besides, now I can talk to Lynn about what made her upset. Isn't that what she wants to do anyway?"

"She wants to talk to you on her _own_ time. How do you think she'll react when she finds out you eavesdropped on our conversation about someone that really hurt her? That's really personal, Adam! She might not want to ever open up again!" Luna remarked.

Adam sighed. "So, whaddaya want me to do?"

"I don't know. It's too late to not know about it. You could pretend that you don't know when she opens up to you?"

Adam shook his head. "Nah, I think I'll just tell her I eavesdropped when she opens up to me."

Luna shrugged. "You might wanna get a lotta protective gear when you do."

"Noted." Adam remarked, his shoulders slumped just thinking about the onslaught.

"Adam?" Lori suddenly called, coming down the stairs. "Are you ready to go?"

Adam turned his attention to her and nodded. "Yeah."

"Alright, come to the van when you're ready." Lori replied walking outside.

Luna looked at Adam quizzically, "Did I miss something?"

"Not much, I'm just going to the mall with Leni and Lori."

"The mall? That's a really public place are you sure?" Luna questioned.

"Yeah, absolutely. What happened last night won't stop me from hanging out with you guys." Adam reassured.

"Alright then." Luna said turning and making her way out the kitchen. "Oh, and buy a jockstrap while you're out too."

"Why?" Adam questioned watching Luna walk out the kitchen.

Luna gave Adam a glance. "Incase Lynn feels the need to go low when she gets mad at you."

Adam gave her a dull look. "You don't have to make it worse than it already is."

"Just precaution, bro." Luna shouted already up the stairs.

"Wouldn't be a bad idea to get one of those, though." Adam remarked to himself.

* * *

"Adam don't take this personally, but have you ever been to the mall? Or any mall for that matter?" Lori asked closing the driver door of Vanzilla.

Her question was met with Adam shaking his head. "Uh-uh. This'll be my first one."

"Oo perfect!" Leni exclaimed rushing to Adam's side. "There's so much we need to show you."

"Really? Like what?"

"Honestly, like so much!" Leni began. "First we'll head to all the major clothing stores, they have EVERYTHING there! Then we'll go to the nail salon, cause Lori and I wanna get our nails done. Then we can show you the food courts-OH and there's a few sports stores Lynn likes to go to that we can show you."

"One that Lynn goes to?" Adam repeated, "Would that mean it's a girls only sports store?"

Lori shook her head. "Not at all. Majority of the stores here, if not all of them, are meant for everyone.  
Some may be more tailored towards girls and others towards guys, but who's to judge?"

"Awesome. Coed stores."

Lori simply nodded, seeing Adam's reaction to being exposed to new things made her smile. But her attention was brought towards her phone when she heard her ringtone, along with a quick vibration. She instinctively checked to see who had texted her, beaming at the screen instantly.

"Um, Lori? Why're you smiling?" Adam suddenly asked.

"C'mon we gotta hurry up and get in there!" She exclaimed rushing towards the door.

"Why?"

"Bobby boo-boo-bear!"

"Boo-boo what?" Adam repeated giving Leni a questionable look.

Leni simply shrugged in response, "That's what she likes to call her boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Adam asked starting to walk with Leni to the door. "She never said we were meeting people."

"Trust me she never has to. They're like always around each other." Leni said with a smile.

As the two walked through the entrance, Adam looked around in awe, mouth agape. The mall looked amazing. Tons of people walking around with shopping bags full of stuff they had just bought. All kinds of glamorous, and colorful stores at nearly every single corner with welcoming looks. Adam had finally found out why teenagers his age always wanted to go to the mall. It's practically paradise at first glimpse.

"Oh there's Lori." Leni said, snapping him out of his admiration of his surroundings.

He spotted Lori hugging what he guessed was Bobby-boo-boo-bear, and a smaller girl standing next to him with her hands in her pockets.

"Hey, Leni." Bobby greeted before Lori separated from him.

"Hi, Bobby." Leni happily greeted.

"Bobby, there's someone here I want you to meet." Lori said, indicating Adam's presence.

Bobby turned to Adam and held out his hand. "Hey there lil' guy, I'm Bobby Santiago. And this is my sister Ronnie Anne." He said motioning to Ronnie behind him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Adam Law...-er I mean, uh, Adam Loud."

"Loud?" Bobby repeated eyeing the boys unique features compared to the other Louds. He stood up before whispering, "Uh Lori? No offense but has your mother been... seeing someone else?"

Lori glanced at Adam and realized that Bobby noticed his obvious skin tone difference. "No, he's um...adopted." Lori whispered back.

"Ooooohh." Bobby silently exclaimed, nodding as the situation started to make sense. "That's cool. He looks like a relative of Clyde's actually."

"Who's that?" Adam asked.

"He's Lincoln's best friend." Lori answered.

Adam snapped his fingers, "Oh yeah Lincoln said something about him briefly last night. Lily thought I was him when I picked her up a while ago."

Lori took a moment to further inspect Adam's features in comparison to Clyde's.  
He shared the same skin tone as him, along with similar hair color. Though he didn't have freckles like Clyde did. It was also somewhat harder to find any other similar features since Adam was older and had more growth than Clyde did. What if he WAS related to Clyde? Could there be something else about Clyde's family that Lori didn't know about? That definitely gave her some serious thought. But seeing Adam was already in a bright mood from the mall by itself, she figured it'd be best to think about all that later.

"Guess it's a new trend for me." Adam said shrugging.

"Hey babe," Bobby spoke, "There's this new ice team place down by the food court I wanna show you."

Lori grabbed his hand happily, and a little thankful she could get something better on her mind. "Well why don't we go then?"

Ronnie, Leni, and Adam watched as the two lovebirds walked to the food court while gazing deeply into each other's eyes.

"Are they on a date right now?" Adam asked.

"They always are." Ronnie and Leni both said in sync.

* * *

"They must really love each other, huh?" Adam questioned glancing over at Lori and Bobby who've been visiting more than one food court.

"Yeah." Leni answered.

"It never ends." Ronnie moaned. "Say, do you share a room with Lincoln?"

Adam nodded.

Ronnie Anne twiddled her thumbs, "Does he ever...talk about me?"

Adam raised an eyebrow in curiosity to the girls question. "Uh I dunno, why do you ask?"

"N-no reason..." Ronnie lied looking away.

Leni cupped her hands on Adam's ear. "She really likes him."

A smile crept on Adam's face suddenly. "Ohhhhhh." He began rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "Now that I think about it, he does bring up your name from time to time."

"Really?" Ronnie Anne perked up instantly. "What does he say about me?"

Adam shrugged, "It tends to be mixed. In between you and him dating and you and him staying friends. I believe he also mentioned something about food getting dumped in his pants?" Adam's smile suddenly dissipated after that last sentence, and he ended up giving Ronnie Anne a guilt stare.

Ronnie Anne twiddled her thumbs again, "Hehe..yeah...maybe I should lay off on the food stuffing."

"Instead of shoving food down his pants you should just tell him you like him." Adam suggested.

Ronnie Anne shrugged, "Eh. I usually get mixed vibes from him. One day he kisses me and the other we're just friends. It may stay that way for now."

"Maybe you should just open up to him? That'd probably change a lot." Adam suggested.

While that little idea gave Ronnie Anne some insight in the matter, she still shook her head. "Nah, I'll just let things flow naturally. I'm not entirely sure if I'm ready to have a boyfriend at this age."

"Understandable." Adam remarked.

"How old are you, exactly?" Ronnie Anne asked.

"Thirteen."

"Shouldn't you be taking your own advice and open up to someone YOU like?" Ronnie Anne questioned, causing Adam to rub the back of his neck.

He didn't expect such a question from a girl her age. "It's a little complicated with her."

"Wait are you talking about Lynn?" Leni suddenly asked.

"Shhh!" Adam sharply hissed with a finger to his mouth. "Don't say it so loud!"

"Why not?" Leni asked, genuinely confused.

"I don't want anyone else to know about it." Adam replied.

Leni chuckled, "Adam, we already had a general idea about you two."

"We?"

"Like, everyone in the house."

Adam face palmed himself. "How?"

"I think since the basketball date. But after the whole adoption stuff we kinda just forgot about it." Leni stated.

Adam sighed. "Please make sure to keep it that way."

Leni chuckled, "Aw, Adam. There's nothing to be nervous about, its totally normal. I get it all the time."

Adam have her a confused look, taken back more by the statement. "You like someone all the time?"

"Well." Contemplated Leni, "More like people like me all the time."

"I don't think that helps out my problem." Adam simplified.

"Waitaminute." Ronnie Anne spoke, grabbing Adam and Leni's attention. "Isn't Lynn the one that likes sports?"

"Yeah." Adam replied.

"Tch, that chick's tough as nails. Wouldn't she clobber you if she heard you liked her?" Ronnie Anne questioned.

Adam simply shrugged. "I like how tough she is."

Ronnie Anne chuckled. "You two seem like you'd probably give each other punches instead of kisses."

Adam sighed while Leni failed to stifle her laugh. "Well, she does punch me in the shoulders at times."

"Awwwww so romantic." Ronnie Anne commented resting her head on her palms and smirking.

"Ugh! Stop." Adam said standing up. "Let's just keep this to ourselves before Lori and Bobby hear."

"Before Lori and Bobby hear what?"

Adam swiveled around to see Lori standing behind to him with sharing some curiosity with Bobby. "Ummm...before you hear about how we think how cute you guys are together." He gave a weak smile.

"Aww thanks, guys! C'mon, we can only go to three stores today because Mom and Dad need Vanzilla." Lori said turning and walking in the other direction.

"Decent save. I'll give you props for that." Ronnie Anne remarked following the couple.

"You're a little piece of work, aren't ya?"

* * *

"Eeeeeeeeeeeee!" Leni exclaimed giddily. "This is, like, my favorite store!"

Adam eyed the store title with confusion. "Fasho. Extra.? What does that mean?"

"The Fashion Extravaganza." Lori simplified. "Literally Leni's favorite store in the whole mall."

"Literally the best store in the mall!" Leni remarked. "Cmon, Adam I need your opinion on some new outfits." Without much hesitation Leni grabbed Adam by the wrist and rushed him into the store.

"Eh, it's only second best to MY favorite store." Lori commented. "But, a girl can dream."  
Her, Bobby, and Ronnie Anne shortly made their way into the store.

* * *

"Ok, Adam how's this one look? Too flashy or too dim?" Leni asked. She stepped out the dressing room wearing a light green gown, as if she were going to prom.

Adam eyed the dress, pretending to know what he was looking at, but in all having no clue what-so-ever. This was definitely something he never did. It was just a dress, something people wore, what's all this "flashy" stuff about? Only thing Adam was ever asked about when it came to "flashy" was how fast he could run, or how fast he could throw a ball. He could easily judge a sport teams colors and see if they blended well together, or just looked like straight up vomit. That all matched up with what the team represented, their goals, and their achievements. But this was a whole new ball game, this was a girl questioning whether this outfit looks good on HER. No multi-colored uniform, or protective gear, but a simple gown.

"Uhhhmmm." Adam mumbled, failing to hide his inability to judge her dress.

Leni cocked her head to the side, "Adam? Is something wrong?"

"No, just..." Adam pondered.

"Adam." Leni urged.

He sighed. "Ok, I have no idea what opinion to give you for that outfit."

"It's a dress." Leni corrected.

"Exactly."

"Adam." Leni gave a reassuring smile. "It's only a gown, nothing serious."

"I know, but I'm just not good at this kind of stuff."

"It's not hard, Adam." Leni assured, her words failing to give him confidence. "It's like riding a bike."

"I never rode a bike." Adam remarked.

"Really?" Leni asked. "Neither did I."

"Why not?" Adam questioned.

Leni shrugged. "I just couldn't get it to go."

Adam blankly stared at her a little at a loss for words. Sure he didn't know what it was like to ride a bike, but he HAS seen people ride them. Peddling didn't seem hard at all.

"Anyway." Leni spoke, giving Adam something else to think about. "It's real easy! Just think deeply about it, envision the gown on the person, think about if it brings out the person's eyes, or matches perfectly with their hair."

"I dunno..." Adam said doubting himself.

"Just give it a try." Leni encouraged.

Adam sighed and continued to further inspect her gown. "Light hair, light color...long hair, mid-knee gown. Fits well, sleeveless..."

"Well?" Leni asked.

"I'd say it looks...great?" Adam spoke wincing.

Leni gave him an impressed look. "Nice! Keep this up and maybe you can help Lynn find a dress one day."

"Leni!" Adam urgently, yet silently exclaimed. "C'mon we just talked about that."

"What?" Leni asked. "I just think you guys look cute together."

"Well could ya think that more silently?" Adam questioned.

"How do I do that?" Leni asked.

"Wha...no I don't mean literally. I'm just saying...never mind."

Leni shrugged. "I think she'd like you back, Adam. She seems to enjoy being around you a lot."

"Maybe..." Adam thought. "Either way she's still not talking to me right now, so why bother?"

"Just start a convo with her when we get back. It's not like she hates you." Leni said.

"Eh. I guess I could try that." Adam replied before thinking to himself. "Or let her start the convo like Luna told me."

"What was that?" Leni asked barely hearing the last part.

"Nothing." Adam replied innocently.

"Leni, Bobby and I are gonna go to Flawless 22. Mom and Dad need want us home a little sooner, so whatever third store you wanna go to you might as well go now." Lori informed before her, Bobby, and Ronnie went their own way.

"Text us where to meet up when you're done!" Leni shouted.

Adam watched them leave and looked to Leni for their next idea of where to go. "Where to?"

Leni put a finger to her chin to think. "Hmmmmm..." She then instantly snapped her fingers as an idea came to her mind. "I got it! There's this one place Lynn always goes to. I think you'd like it there!"

"Really?" Adam asked intrigued.

"Yeah let's go!" Leni said grabbing his hand and moving towards the exit.

"Uh Leni you still have the dress on." Adam remarked.

Leni stopped in her tracks and ran to the dressing room. "Right, gimme a minute."

* * *

"Whoaaaaa!" Adam gasped in awe. "There's like ten thousand different sports in here!"

Leni nodded. "Yeah, Lynn absolutely loves his store. This is usually her go-to for anything sports related."

Adam walked up to an isle full of different equipment and examined everything. "Wow! These football wide receiver gloves look amazing!"

"What are wide receivers? Is that some kind of tv?" Leni asked.

Adam shook his head. "Nuh-uh, it's the people that catch the football during the game."

"Oh!" Leni perked up. "You mean the brown spinny thingy?"

Adam chuckled. "Yeah, that." He continued to examine the merchandise before a thought popped up in his head. "Waitaminute, I need a jock strap."

"Can I help you two find anything?" The store clerk asked walking up to them.

"Uhmm..yeah." Adam said contemplating a bit. "What kind of jock straps do you guys have?"

The man put his hands on his hips and thought momentarily. "Depends. What sport do you need protection in?"

"Not really a sport, but what kind of jock strap would you recommend that would protect someone from a penalty kick to the groin?" Adam asked.

"There's some for soccer. But I don't think it's very likely you'd get kicked there." The man said.

"Yeah well think of it as a penalty kick that was meant for the groin." Adam replied.

The man nodded, "Then in that case you're gonna need a football jock strap."

"I'll take one of those then." Adam said.

"Alright, I'll meet you by the register." The man said walking off to get the equipment.

"Hey Leni?" Adam asked turning to the blonde. "Did we bring money?"

Leni nodded. "Dad gave us plenty before we left. Why d'you need a jock strap?"

"Lynn." Adam stated.

Leni seemed confused. "What does she have to do with it?"

"Let's just say I need to be prepared when I start the convo with her." Adam replied.

"Wait..." Leni contemplated. "Are you guys gonna, like, throw the baseball around to each other or something?"

Adam shook his head. "Nope."

"I'm still confused." Leni stated scratching her head.

"Just know it's for protection." Adam replied.

"Hmm." Leni hummed still confused but dismissing the subject. "Hope you guys don't play too rough."

The store clerk came up rather quick. Faster than Adam anticipated. "Alright, it's gonna be 12.94." He said after glancing at the machine's balance.

"12/94?" Leni questioned. "There's 94 days in December?"

The store clerk stared at her in a questionable manner. "Excuse me?"

"Leni, no. It's the balance of the item." Adam simplified.

"Balance? Oh right!" Leni spoke, reaching into her purse.

Adam took one more look at the store, a little bummed that they had to leave it so soon. "Man I wish I could stay here a little longer."

"Maybe when we come back." Leni offered. "Lori and I come here really often, sometimes when the rest of the girls aren't doing anything they come with!"

"Hmm." Adam hummed. "Well whenever you guys come here again I'd like to come with, as long as I don't have anything else to do."

Leni got money back after paying and smiled at Adam. "We'd love to have you tag along again."  
Leni suddenly felt a vibration from her phone. She took it out of her purse and read the message. "Uh oh."

"Uh oh, what?" Adam asked.

"Looks like we need to go right now. Mom and Dad must wanna go out or something." Leni said.

"In that case let's hurry back outside and get to the van." Adam said.

* * *

Adam and Leni traveled to back to the entrance they came into and waited until Lori pulled up to get in the van. They got in, somewhat bummed out that they didn't get to stay longer but still content with the time they had. Especially since it was Adam's first time in a mall.

"Hey where's Bobby and Ronnie?" Adam asked.

"They went back to their house. Since Mom and Dad are going out tonight I gotta stay home and watch over everyone." Lori said.

Adam nodded. "Makes sense."

Lori looked in the rear view mirror and spotted an item in Adam's hand. "What'd ya buy?"

Adam looked down at the jockstrap in his hand and chuckled. "A jockstrap."

"Is it for Lynn?" Lori questioned smirking.

Adam gave a nervous laugh. "It's not so much _for_ Lynn as it is _because_ of Lynn. If you get what I'm saying."

Lori nodded. "Yeah I get it. Mind if I ask why?"

"Its about yesterday. Y'know the whole thing with her running into her room." Adam said.

"I remember." Lori recalled. "Careful cause she also throws stuff."

Adam felt dread enter his stomach at that statement. "She throws stuff too?"

"Yep." Lori confirmed. "One time she got really mad at us and when I tried to console her she threw her bed mattress at me."

Adam's face twisted in disbelief. "Her bed mattress?"

Lori nodded. "She was real mad."

Adam sunk into the seat he was in bummed out. "Great, now I wonder if I need a whole suit of armor on when I talk to her."

"Don't worry about it, Adam." Lori reassured. "She probably wouldn't try to hurl anything at you since she doesn't seem that mad. And even if she does, you're fast and strong enough to get away and defend yourself."

"Kinda hoping self defense is the last action I need to take." Adam said. "But thanks for the heads up."

Adam tried to sit back up and find a more comfortable position in the seat he was in. He was starting to feel a little drowsy out of nowhere. There wasn't much energy he could work with when he woke up, but he learned to tolerate it for now. Maybe a little nap was all he needed.

* * *

"Adam?" A young voice called. "Adam?"

Adam slowly stirred awake, unaware of what was going on.

"Adam, wake up." The familiar voice spoke again.

Adam opened his tired eyes and sat up. "Lincoln?"

"You've been sleeping for a few hours since you got back, are you ok?" Lincoln asked.

Adam completely forgot he had went straight to sleep after they got back from the mall. He just got tired mysteriously out of nowhere and blacked out. He sat up and tried to look at Lincoln with tired eyes. "Where's Mom and Dad?"

"They went out for dinner. Date night. Lori's in charge again." Lincoln answered.

Adam slowly climbed out of the bed and wiped his eyes. "Alright. Thanks for waking me."

Lincoln nodded and began walking out of the room. "Oh, another thing." He suddenly spoke stopping and turning around. "Mom and Dad dropped off a few movies for us to watch, you should come downstairs and watch them with us."

"I'll be down in a second." Adam said.

Lincoln happily made his way down the stairs to join his sisters with the movie.

Adam jumped out of the bed and stretched his limbs out, the resulting feeling being a great and relaxing one. It looked like it had gotten dark outside already. The day was pretty much over, and everyone in the house was in a relaxed mood.

Adam took a step toward the door but halted in his place when his eyes locked glances with someone else who was upstairs. Someone whos choice of a shirt was a white and red, with a crimson number one on the center of it. Lynn was staring directly at him, and by the looks of it, just left the bathroom to go to her room and grab something. She shared the same expression and emotions he did. Shock, speechlessness, and indecision.

Neither of them knew what to say. Lynn could see Adam trying to muster up some words just so the situation would be less awkward. To Adam's slight fortune there were some words that came to mind.  
"So...Mom and Dad left a movie for us to watch..."

Lynn's expression slightly changed but still seemed skeptical to say much. She spoke in a low tone. "I know...I was just about to grab a pair of socks to wear..." She slowly began making her way into her room, still not wanting to say much.

"Lynn." Adam spoke.

Lynn stopped before walking out of sight, now thinking back to what Luna talked to her about earlier on. She hesitantly turned and met his eyes with a not so confident look.

"Can we talk?" Adam asked. "About what happened yesterday?"

Looks like he finally cut to the chase. Lynn held gazes with him for a minute, but finally sighed. She scanned the area around them before gently pushing Adam back into Lincoln's room. Everyone in the house was downstairs at this point but she had to make sure no one could hear the conversation they were having.  
She checked to make sure no one had made their way on the steps suddenly. "The reason why we're in here is because I don't want anyone else hearing this. I don't need them to worry about yesterday."

"Um about that..." Adam spoke grabbing Lynn's attention. "I kinda know why you ran away yesterday..."

"How?" Lynn asked with growing anger on her face.

Adam just then remembered the jock strap he got. Wouldn't be the worst idea to put it on, but he figured if he was to be hit within the next few seconds that he deserved it. "I sorta..eavesdropped on your convo with Luna earlier today."

Adam barely comprehended Lynn's arm moving when she jabbed him harshly in the shoulder.

"You what?!" She silently asked in aggravation.

"I was worried!" Adam said gingerly rubbing his potentially bruised shoulder. "I spent the whole day yesterday thinking I did something wrong when I didn't. Wouldn't you do the same if it was Lincoln?"

Lynn sighed again, slightly calming down. "I guess. But honestly Adam you should think before you do something like that."

"I know." Adam replied. "Luna talked to me about that after she left your room.

"Luna?" Lynn questioned. "So that's who she was hiding from my view."

Adam nodded. "Wasn't Lincoln."

"So you basically know everything about why I cried yesterday?" Lynn asked.

"Yeah." Adam confirmed. "Luna's right, I wouldn't do anything to hurt you like Lex did. You know that."

Lynn looked off to the side. "I know. It's just that I knew Lex for a longer time, and he said the same exact thing you did."

"Trust me, Lynn." Adam spoke grabbing Lynn's attention again. "A kid from my background wouldn't screw over his friend. Especially one he really cares about."

Lynn couldn't help but silently give a small smile.

"Also why be so secretive about this?" Adam asked.

"Lori, Leni, Luna, and Luan are the only ones I told about this situation. They're the only ones who would fully understand this situation other than you now." Lynn answered.

"Then why would it be so bad if they heard us talking about this?" Adam asked again.

"Because I don't want them to worry about it all over again. I just want to leave it behind." Lynn stated.

Adam practically felt relief wash over him. Lynn seemed to have mostly gotten over what happened yesterday. "So does this mean you aren't mad at me?"

Lynn smirked at him. "No I'm not mad at you." She repeated. "But I do feel like you deserve more punches for eavesdropping."

"Ah c'mon one wasn't enough?" Adam asked.

Lynn gave a devilish grin. "Not if you're a flincher." She swung her fist forward and stopped it mere inches away from Adam's face.

Adam let out a silent exclamation and jumped back a few inches. He looked at Lynn's face and saw her devilish grin. "Dangit."

"Two for flinching." Lynn said jabbing Adam two times in the shoulder again.

"Can we join everyone downstairs before you give me bruises all over? Adam asked holding his throbbing arm.

"Sure. I'll race ya." Lynn said darting out of the room.

"Hey no head-starts!" Adam called chasing after her.

The stairs were too dark to really see down them, but that didn't stop Adam from running down them in a full on sprint. But little did he know, Lynn was waiting on her hands and knees on the last few steps ready to table-top him with his own momentum.

"Table-top!" Lynn called devilishly grinning again. Her eyes widened seeing Adam's speed was too fast for him to stop himself. "Oh geez..."

"OOF!" They both exclaimed slamming into one another.

They both slammed against the floor, alerting the other Louds of their presence.

"Are you guys ok?" Lori asked.

Lynn groaned a little but laughed it off. "Just a little failed table-top."

"Guess they're best buds again." Lana said.

"Hurry guys, the movie's starting!" Lincoln said.

Adam and Lynn quickly got up and took their seats on the floor in front of the couch.

"We're gonna be up all night." Lynn said.

"What makes you say that?" Adam asked.

"We got like four more movies after this one." Lynn stated

"Lookin' forward to it, then." Adam said with a smile.

Lynn smiled with him. "Me too."

* * *

 **And that's that chapter. I really am sorry about making you guys wait so long! I'm gonna try my best to make sure the next chapter won't be out so late. On another note I do have a tumblr account that I plan on posting future non-professional drawings on, and I'm gonna post a full body drawing of Adam for those of you who wanna know what he looks like visually. Sadly I can't post the link without it bugging out or something so just look up reddwalker314 on tumblr and it should be the account that says "Midnight Nonsense" for now.**

 **But with all that said I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know how you felt about it. I'll see you guys in the next one.**


	7. Chapter 7: New experiences

**Omg, I'm really sorry guys. I really hate having you guys wait 2-3 months just for ONE chapter. And I'm pretty sure some of you wanna bite my head off for having to wait so long. I'm just having trouble finding the will to write after a day or two of school. I'm gonna do my best to make that change for the next chapter and the chapters after that. I wanna say more but it's late, and I wanna post this chapter now so I can start the next one tomorrow, so with that said I hope you enjoy this chapter and still wanna keep reading future ones for this story.**

* * *

"Aaaaaaadaaaaam." Lynn called.

Adam groaned still seemingly asleep.

"Hey, Sleeping Beauty, wake up." Lynn said shaking him. Her shaking did little to nothing to the boy. "Alright, I didn't wanna do this but you leave me no choice." Lynn then stuck her index finger in her mouth and licked it all around before sticking it into Adam's ear.

"Euuugh!" Adam exclaimed sitting up and wiping Lynn's saliva from his ear. "Lynn, really?"

Lynn chuckled. "Well I had to do something! You've been asleep through the entire morning! It's 1:30."

"1:30?!" Adam asked bewildered.

Lynn nodded and confirmed his question.

Adam face palmed himself. "Ugh! I'm basically sleeping a quarter of the day away, maybe even more!"

"Why've you been sleeping so much lately?" Lynn asked.

"I don't know..." Adam lied. He was sure his body was still attempting to reserve energy and making him sleep longer. That and his stomach was feeling worse than yesterday.

"Well either way, you can't keep sleeping. You gotta get up." Lynn said. She wrapped her arms around his chest and practically dragged him out of the bed.

Adam allowed her to carry him for a minute, just because he still had a sleepy feeling.

"You wanna use your legs, dude?" Lynn asked.

"Nah, I'm pretty comfortable with this." Adam replied.

"Y'know, this position is good for sleeper holds." Lynn remarked.

"Try it and I'll flip you over my shoulder." Adam countered.

"Flip me and I'll transition into an armbar." Lynn shot.

Adam huffed. "Dangit." He'd be a little more aggravated at the thought that she was a step ahead of him, but he found it more admirable than annoying.

Lynn smiled smugly as he stood up. "Thank you."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Adam mocked.

"Oh by the way, Lisa wanted to talk to you. I think it's about your ancestry. She must've finished analyzing the blood sample you gave her." Lynn mentioned.

"I almost forgot about that." Adam said astonished. "I'm kinda excited to know what I am."

"Hey." Lynn stopped him before he could walk into Lisa and Lily's room. "If you start to feel uncomfortable or anything, just let me know."

"Don't worry, Lynn. I'll be fine." Adam reassured.

"I know, I just.." She paused. "I don't want you to freak out or anything, you seem to not be yourself when it comes to your own family history."

"I'm glad you care about how I feel, but trust me, I can handle this." Adam said.

Lynn reluctantly nodded and walked into Lisa's room with him.

"Hey, Lisa? Lynn told me you wanted to speak to me." Adam said.

Lisa nodded while she wrote down on a sheet of paper on a clipboard. "Yes. Regarding ancestral genetics. I believe I found out what you are. Or, more specifically, what ethnicity you descend from."

"Whaddaya got?" Adam asked.

Lisa adjusted her glasses, "From my readings you are 95% African American, 5% Native American, and another 5% Caucasian."

Adam looked at her intrigued. He thought he was only black, but now he's two other things.

"Those are the ethnicities that stood out the most when I analyzed your blood. It's possible you could be more than those three, though. Studies show nowadays it's a lot more common to be affiliated with three or more different ethnicities." Lisa stated.

Adam looked at her astounded. "Well ain't that neat?"

Lynn nodded. "Yeah it's pretty cool."

"Thanks, Lisa." Adam said.

Lisa gave a nod as a 'your welcome' gesture. "If you need anything else, I'll be in here trying to create various forms of concoctions for my recent experiment."

Lynn looked at Adam. "I think that's our cue to leave."

"Eh not so much as a cue. Take it as a kind gesture that says 'I'll be busy for a while.'" Lisa corrected.

"Fair enough." Lynn said turning and walking out the room.

"Later." Adam signed off following suit. He followed Lynn downstairs shortly.

Lynn looked over to the couch and spotted Lily playing with one of her basketballs. The ball was bigger than her, so she was basically hugging half of it with her arms and legs.

"Awwww, Lily." Lynn spoke, making her way to her little sister. "You wanna become a basketball player when you get older?"

"Baset baw." Lily chirped.

"We gotta get her started now if she wants to play in the future." Lynn said.

"Now?" Adam asked a little stunned. "She's only a year old!"

"Listen, buddy, I was playing around with sports equipment since I came out of the womb. Lily is a year late." Lynn said.

"Well." Adam spoke. "I guess it would be smart to start early." He then noticed that the ball Lily was next to was too big for her to actually carry and dribble, giving him second thoughts. "Maybe not this early, though..."

"Trust me, I became great at sports because of how early I began." Lynn responded.

"Yeah but I started a lot later than you did. And I'm just as good, if not better, than you are." Adam said.

Lynn lightly scoffed. "Adam, you're really good, there's no denying that. But being better than me at sports is something you aren't."

"I can recall knocking you on your ass dozens of times during football." Adam said giving her a smirk.

"My ankle was busted up during that time!" Lynn defended. "That doesn't count."

Adam scoffed. "Oh sure it was. Last I remembered, you were in tip-top shape the whole season."

Lynn let out a frustrated groan. She was still upset about being knocked down by Adam throughout the whole football season, and him gloating about it wasn't any better. "Yeah? Well I can definitely outdo you in wrestling."

Adam nearly laughed in her face. "You wish you could. Half the time I'm not even trying and you're still struggling."

"I don't try much either when I can tell you aren't making much effort. One day, we're gonna wrestle for real. All out, everything we got. And I'll show you the real wrestling queen." Lynn said looking him dead in the eye.

Adam blinked at her. "Lynn, if I were to go all out on you in wrestling I'd break you."

"You'll never know if you can as long as you barely attempt." Lynn replied giving a light shrug.

Adam chuckled. "Tell ya what, one of these days I actually will go all out. Just to prove to you that I'm better."

"Lookin' forward to it." Lynn replied giving a challenging smile.

Adam couldn't help but feel a little nervous about that match. He could barely imagine him AND Lynn giving it their all in a wrestling match against one another. He knew Lynn wasn't a pushover when it came to anything sport related. When that match comes, he knows it'll be the hardest one they both had.

"Hey guys!" A voice suddenly called out.

Adam, Lynn, and Lily all looked over to see Luna running into the room.

"Hey, Luna." Adam and Lynn greeted.

"Guess what?" She asked before continuing on before they could ask. "I was talking to Luan about what to do today and she brought up the carnival we went to!"

"Carnival?" Adam asked. "I never went to a carnival with you guys."

"No it was before you came here, Adam." Lynn informed. "Three months ago."

Luna nodded. "Exactly, I was thinking about how fun it was when we went and how much fun you had with Lincoln. I figured that I could take Adam there and see if he likes it!"

Adam was curious about going to the carnival. It seemed harmless and fun. But Lynn wasn't so keen about the idea. "A carnival, Luna?

Luna nodded, not seeing anything wrong with the idea.

"Last time you took him to a concert and caused him to freak out when someone sang really messed up lyrics. Now you wanna take him to a carnival?" Lynn asked.

"Lynn, it's not gonna be like the concert. You've been there before, it's super kid friendly!" Luna defended.

"Still! Anything could go down at the carnival! I don't want him to have a mental breakdown 'cause someone felt like saying something that triggered his memories. Or for him to get depressed over anything!" Lynn stated.

"Lynn, I'm telling you, I won't let anyone mess with Adam like that! I'm gonna watch him carefully the entire time!" Luna countered.

"No!" Lynn loudly denied, stomping her foot in the process. "He's not going!"

"Lynn!" Adam shouted, grabbing the young athlete's attention. Adam's expression was shocked to say the least. "Breathe, ok? You're starting to blow this out of proportion."

"I'm not mad or anything, I just..." She paused. "I don't want you to get hurt out there."

Adam couldn't help but to put on a heartfelt smile. He held Lynn by the shoulders to calm her nerves. "Lynn I really, really, appreciate how you're worrying about me. But I think I can handle a carnival. I trust Luna with this one, and I think you should too."

"Yeah way to have faith in me, sis." Luna sarcastically spoke. A little offended on the fact.

"It's not that I don't trust you, Luna." Lynn said to Luna. "Adam's been through a lot. He's sensitive to stuff that involves family matters."

"I can learn to handle that, which is why I'm going with her." Adam said.

Lynn looked at Adam with some concern on her face. "You're going? But...but if something-"

"Nothing's gonna happen." Adam said stopping her mid sentence. "If I start to get even a little uncomfortable with the carnival then Luna's got my back, right Luna?" He asked looking to the rocker.

Luna nodded in agreement. "Right. I'm gonna make sure he's alright out there, Lynn. Trust me."

Lynn didn't respond. It was obvious that she was very uncertain about Adam going regarding the look on her face. Adam was probably gonna go there regardless of whether or not she wanted him to. If anything, that made her more uneasy about the whole thing. Having little to no say in what happens. She wasn't his mom after all.

"Well it's not like I can stop you guys anyway." She spoke looking off to the side.

"Luna, wouldn't she be able to come with us?" Adam asked, seeing she was a little down.

Luna shrugged to him. "I wish she could but they just changed the entry fee to buying tickets. I only had enough money for two and they won't let us in any other way."

"Aww man." Adam said defeated.

"It's fine, Adam." Lynn spoke. "I'll just stay here. You deserve another night out with Luna anyway."

"Are you sure? You aren't gonna get lonely or anything?" Adam asked.

Lynn lightly scoffed, "Pffft please, Adam. I still have nine other siblings I can mess around with while you're gone. I won't be lonely." She was slightly bluffing. Sure she had nine other siblings to talk to or hang out with, but she didn't really have anyone to do what SHE wanted to do.

"Alright..I guess." Adam spoke before turning to Luna. "Are we heading out right now?"

Luna shook her head. "Mmm not right now. I think 5:00 would be a good time to go."

"Oh! Well we should have plenty of time to do whatever else until then, Lynn!" Adam optimistically said looking at Lynn.

Lynn looked back at him with mildly curious eyes. "Like what?"

"We could watch the other movies from last night." Adam said. "We all tapped out last night pretty early after the first movie so I'm pretty sure we can actually watch the other ones until Luna and I go."

"Huh." Lynn mumbled as she thought about it. "I guess that'd be a good way to pass the time. But aren't the movies a little corny?"

Adam nodded, "Yeah but we can just arm wrestle during the cheesy parts."

"Could we throw the tennis ball to each other too?" Lynn asked with rising interest.

Adam smirked and nodded again. "Yeah, why not?"

"Alright then, I'm down." Lynn said happily.

"You guys go ahead and do your stuff." Luna said as she walked up the stairs. "I'll come down when it's time to go."

"Ok." Adam said before looking at Lynn. "So do you wanna get beat in arm wrestling first, or get beat in Tips?"

"Playing Tips with a tennis ball?" Lynn scoffed. "Please, I've beaten Lincoln in Tips with one hand while using a ping pong ball."

"Beaten in Tips it is then." Adam said.

* * *

Luna made her way downstairs. It was now 5:10, she lost a little track of time. "Adam, bro. Sorry I should've got us going a little sooner. Are you ready?"

Adam was in the middle of a Tips match, which now he held a disadvantage in considering his slipped focus. "Huh?"

The ball bonked him on the head before making its way to the ground and landing, making Lynn the winner.

"Yes!" She cheered. "I win!"

"Hey no fair! I wasn't paying attention!" Adam said in retaliation.

"Rule number one of Tips: Always pay attention." Lynn smugly said.

Adam gave her a dull look. "You just made that up."

"So? You should already know not to lose focus in Tips with a little something called: 'common sense'." Lynn said.

"Whatever." Adam said sighing. "You were saying, Luna?"

"I was asking if you were ready to go. I kinda lost track of time, but we can still get there before it gets super crowded." Luna said.

"Super crowded?" Lynn questioned. "It's never super crowded there."

"Ok bad choice of words, I meant before there's a long line to get in." Luna restated.

Lynn nodded now understanding what she meant. She turned and looked at Adam with a small smirk.  
"Guess I'll see ya later."

"Yeah, hopefully when I get back I can beat you fair and square at Tips." Adam said.

Lynn let out a little laugh, "Sure you will." She gave him a somewhat soft punch to the chest. "Be careful out there, ok?"

Adam nodded.

"You too, Luna." Lynn said looking past Adam to see her older sister.

"I will, Lynn." Luna said guiding Adam outside. "Y'know if you said another sentence I would've thought I was talking to mom."

Lynn gave a small chuckle. "Yeah whatever. See ya."

"Later." Adam and Luna said before closing the door.

* * *

"How much longer do we have to walk?" Adam asked.

"Just a little more, I can see the entrance now." Luna said. "Aren't you supposed to be athletic?"

"I am." Adam replied. "It just seemed a bit far for a walk, that's all."

"Heh, yeah it does." Luna agreed.

Something popped up into her mind suddenly as they were approaching the entrance. Something she forgot about yet now managed to remember. "Hey Adam?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you and Lynn still have that 'thing'?" Luna asked, seeing Adam's expression take a slight jump to nervousness. He was taken back from the sudden question. But he tried to play it off.

"Umm, I dunno...why do you ask?"

Luna shrugged, "It just dawned on me. Just remembered the whole basketball date."

"You too, huh?" Adam asked as they got in a short line to get it.

Luna's face slightly twisted with confusion. "Whaddaya mean?"

"Leni brought it up at the mall yesterday. Guess she never forgot." Adam replied.

Luna was a little surprised that Leni was able to remember how Adam and Lynn acted before the adoption. She felt a little bad now underestimating her sisters ability to remember things. "I thought I was the only one thinking about it. Heh, looks like I was wrong."

"D'you think the others know? Or in this case remember?" Adam questioned, hoping he'd get a "no" from her.

"I'm not sure, dude. Maybe if they saw you guys doing stuff together they would." Luna said. She then took on a more curious side with her next series of questions. "But I gotta know; how do you feel about her now?"

Adam looked a little unsure about what to say to Luna. "Whaddaya mean by that?"

"You still like her, right?" Luna questioned, looking very intrigued to know.

"Well...yeah." Adam shyly answered. "I feel like I might make it obvious sometimes."

"Really? Like when?" Luna asked.

"There was this one time...before we left."

* * *

30 minutes ago….

"Ready, set, go!" Lynn said, seconds before the arm wrestling match began. She was already beginning to strain. Arm wrestling Adam wasn't like arm wrestling Lincoln at all. Lynn dropped her head down in an effort to add more leverage to her side. Adam wasn't bluffing when he said he'd beat her, he was a pretty formidable opponent and it seemed like he wasn't straining that hard. In fact, he was barely trying to pin Lynn's arm down in the first place. He was keeping his arm from moving anywhere.  
Lynn couldn't tell whether Adam was actively trying as much as she was to pin her arm. Her curiosity peaked enough for her to pick her head up and see how Adam's struggle was going. But her heart nearly slipped a beat when she did.

Adam was staring directly into her eyes, almost as if they weren't arm wrestling. She blushed wildly.  
"W..why are you staring at me..?" Lynn asked slightly straining yet very nervous.

Adam suddenly managed to spontaneously snap out of his stare and notice the awkward situation. "Umm...I stare at people during arm wrestling matches to intimidate them..." He bluffed.

Lynn raised an eyebrow, confused. Adam was never the type of boy to intimidate people on purpose, not seriously anyway. If he did, it was mostly accidental.

Adam took notice of how they both virtually lost focus and weren't trying 100% to pin each other's arm down. If there was anyway to get himself out of this awkward situation within the next few seconds it would be him winning the match. Adam swiftly used all of his strength without warning, bringing Lynn's arm down in the process with a loud bang.

Lynn felt a little sting of pain, slowly coming to her senses and looking down at their arms. "Oh...dangit."

Adam nervously chuckled. "Heh heh, so Tips then?"

* * *

Luna almost started to laugh. "Oh my god! She caught you staring at her!" The situation was already too much for her to bare and she began laughing a little. "Why were you acting like that in the first place?"

"It's because her hands were surprisingly super soft! And the face she made when she was struggling during the arm wrestling match was...kinda cute..." Adam explained.

"So, you don't just like her, you REALLY like her!" Luna said prodding Adam repeatedly in the shoulder.

Adam tried, yet failed, to block her finger from poking him. "No!" He protested in a not too convincing or confident voice. "I don't like her THAT much...just a little."

"That's not what it sounds like from what you told me." Luna replied, raising her eyebrows and smirking at him.

Adam remained silent, visibly embarrassed and blushing.

"Why not just ask her out, dude?" Luna questioned.

Adam avoided her gaze, "I don't know if she'd like me back...and besides, I like what we have now. I don't wanna possibly ruin that."

"Aww c'mon, Adam, you'll never know unless you try!" Luna said encouragingly, failing to provide the boy with hope.

"I kinda plan on not knowing in general. I'd rather not know and keep an amazing friend than to risk it all on asking her out."

"Adam." Luna spoke calmly. "Some risks are worth the hassle. Like when Lynn asked you to join our family! She didn't know how you'd respond. She was hoping you'd still be her friend, of all things, in case the situation got bad."

Adam was beat. She had good points to the situation. "Y'know what? Let's just chalk it up to 'I really like her' and go on about our day, sound good?"

Luna chuckled, instantly finding a topic she could talk to Adam about 24/7. "Sure, bro. But don't think we won't talk about this another time."

"Yeah, yeah, just give the guy the tickets." Adam said. Now noticing they were at the front of the line.

Luna gave the man at the front of the line their tickets, shortly making their way into the carnival. It looked the same from what Luna remembered three months ago, just new rides and other attractions. She was hoping that she could make this carnival fun for Adam, he deserved at least that after the concert incident. She was already a couple steps into her goal knowing that Adam was basically having his first time for pretty much everything in the carnival.

"Alrighty then, welcome to The Royal Woods Carnival." Luna announced grinning cheerfully to Adam.

"Great!" Adam replied equally cheerful, "Where do we start?"

"Are you afraid of heights?"

"Nah, not really."

"Then follow me," Luna said turning the other way. "First stop; the rides!" 

* * *

"Are ya ready, dude?" Luna asked, excited and waiting for the ride.

Adam began to absentmindedly shake in the seat next to Luna. "I dunno..." This was gonna be his first ever ride on a coaster. He's seen them dozens of times but only on the ground. Being on them and up in the air is a lot more impactful, especially when you look down.

"Just relax, bro." Luna said. "This ride's gonna be a blast! You already said you weren't afraid of heights remember?"

"Well yeah, but it's a lot different being up HERE than being down THERE." Adam replied.

Luna nodded understandingly, "I know what you mean, it's always gonna be like that. I was scared my first time too, but I got used to it. Just enjoy it and it'll be fun!"

Adam took another glance at the distance they were to the ground before sighing. "Alright..."

"Oh and make sure you're careful about where you scream, you might swallow a bug or two."

Adam snapped his head to her, "What?"

Luna didn't answer, instead she looked ahead and held her hands up. They began to drop down the hill. The constant ticking the coaster made when they rose up to it had stopped, chills were sent through everyone's body as they felt the weight suddenly shift forward. Luna felt Adam's arms suddenly wrap around her torso, not very surprised by the action. She grabbed his right arm from in front of her and held it up in the air. "LET LOOSE, BRO!" She yelled encouragingly.

Adam felt the air rush in and hit his face. The butterflies in his stomach flourished and turned into a new feeling he never experienced before. He found himself screaming uncontrollably as the ride dipped down the hill and quickly advanced to the next one. Luna and Adam ended up screaming their heads off with joy as the ride twisted, turned, and ducked for the next minute and a half. The two of them finally had a moment to catch their breath once the ride was over. Luna looked over at Adam with an expectant smile, "So, how'd ya like it?"

Adam looked as if he had had the most terrifying yet exciting time of his life. He looked over to Luna, still seeming unable to form a lot of words. "...awesome..."

Luna beamed at him. "Great! Whaddaya say we go ride the other gnarly rides?"

Adam's eyes widened just HEARING that there were more monstrous machines out there like this. "I think I need a break before we get to those."

"Oh yeah, almost forgot you were a first time rider." Luna said. "That's fine, we can go do other things until you're ready."

Adam sighed a breath of relief, "Thank God. I thought you were gonna pull a 'Lynn' on me and take me onto a ton of other rides back to back.

Luna gave a small laugh. "Nah, not if you're a first timer." She said before hopping out of the ride.

"Why's that? Adam asked, doing the same and following her to the exit.

"The ride itself can get anyone's heart beatin' like a professional drummer in a drum solo, going on other rides right after that for a newbie might give you a heart attack."

Adam was taken by surprise from the sudden fact. A little unnerved by the thought that he could get a heart attack by simply riding rides. "Wow...that's a bit scary."

Luna nodded in agreement, "Just don't overdo it and you'll be fine." She then stopped and looked around.

"Something wrong?" Adam asked.

Luna shook her head. " Uh-uh, I just remembered that my friends told me they'd be here. We can go meet them before we explore the rides again, as long as I can find them."

"Oh. Did they tell you where they'd be at when they got here?" Adam asked.

Luna shook her head, "Nope. They only said they'd be here."

"Oh, ok. So what do we do now?"

Luna contemplated on that question, a little stumped for once. "Hmm, let's just walk around for a bit." She prompted Adam to follow, then led the way.

They made their way through the carnival looking at various things. Most of them prompted Adam to ask about what they were, since they were brand new to him. Luna happily answered his questions back to back, not giving much hesitation. But it disturbed her how many things he didn't know about. Even the most common seen things in a carnival or in general he had no clue about. It pained her to think about how much of a childhood he missed out on. But that only strengthened her drive to make sure he had fun at this carnival. They walked some more before they stumbled upon the section of the carnival where most of the adults went. There were a few bands playing, people smoking cigarettes, and drinking. Luna hadn't really seen much of it but only came here once with Luan the first time they came to this carnival. She stopped Adam and began leading him a different way.

"What're you doing?" Adam asked. "You don't wanna go in there? They got a band."

Luna shook her head. "Nah, that's the adult section. People basically eat, drink, and smoke there. You and I aren't old enough to be going in there by ourselves."

"'Super kid friendly', huh?" Adam quoted from earlier.

"Alright not gonna lie, I kinda forgot about this part of the carny. The last time I came here was three months ago with Luan, and it was just to see the band playing." Luna explained.

"Hmm. Well I guess we should be heading ba-..." Adam trailed off seeing someone that caught his attention.  
A grown man was drowsily walking past them. Luna took notice to the bottle of alcohol in his hand, giving away that he was drunk. The drunk carnival goer mumbled incoherent words as he aimlessly waltzed around.

"He's drunk." Luna said, grabbing Adam's attention.

"How can you tell?"

"He's walking real funny, almost like he doesn't know how to walk properly. Not to mention how he's babbling words that no one can understand. And that's not even mentioning the bottle of booze in his hand."

"Ohhhh." Adam said noticing everything. "My health teacher told us about those symptoms, it's just harder to spot them out for the first time."

Luna nodded. "Yeah, and by the looks of it, he's about to blow chunks."  
Adam looked back at the drunk man moments before watching him hunch over and lose his lunch.  
"Whoahoho didn't see that coming!" Adam said averting his gaze before taking another peek out of curiosity.

"Yeah, doesn't seem to be a point in drinking all that alcohol if it just came right back out of him." Luna said before having a quick laugh.

Adam couldn't help but snicker at her comment. "Y'know, I almost mistook him for someone that was high."

"Nah there's differences to being high and drunk. People aren't all there, mentally, when they're high. He'd more likely be in la-la-land and under a little more control with his body if he was high." Luna explained.

"Waitaminute." Adam spoke, sporting a suspicious look. "How d'you know so much about being drunk and high? Have you been doing both?"

Luna smiled at him and shook her head. "No, unlike some of my friends I actually listen in health class. Not to mention Mom and Dad would kill me if I did either."

"Well that's good. My teacher told us that it's not good to do either." Adam said.

Luna shrugged. "It usually depends on the situation. And sometimes it's a little tempting to do it when your friends start doing it and try to get you on it. But one thing I definitely won't do is smoke any type of drug. I can't sing if I got lungs that are all banged up. And don't even get me started on what they can do you your skin."

"It's not good for kids like Lynn and I to smoke anything either, lungs are one of the key things we need in order to be the sporty beasts we are." Adam added.

"Just stay away from anything that you aren't supposed to be putting in your body." Luna simplified. "C'mon, let's get back to the family friendly portion of the carnival."

"After you." Adam said following Luna.

* * *

Luna took Adam to the game oriented part of the carnival. No doubt she'd have to teach him how to play most if not all the games, but that didn't stop her from taking him there.

"Hey Adam let's try out this game!"

Adam looked at the oddly set up game. There was a wall with a decently large target on it. On the sides of it we're nets set up to catch a rogue ball. As he looked to his right he spotted a machine that a blank screen with the words m.p.h. off to the side. Next to that machine there was a man in a chair who held three baseballs in his hands.  
The game, itself, looked interesting to Adam. "This seems like a pretty cool game." He said turning to Luna. "How do I play it?"

"Ya get two guesses, first throw is a freebie." The game operator spoke.

"Guesses for what?" Adam questioned.

"Guesses for how fast you can throw the ball."

Adam smirked, "Oh this'll be easy."

"It's harder than it seems." The game operator spoke. "Tell ya what, since this looks like it's your first time I'll let ya play this game for free, but the only way you can get a prize is if you can beat the fastest pitch here."

"Alright, what's the fastest pitch here?" Adam asked.

The man pulled out a board with different high scores on it. He pointed to the highest one. "98 miles per hour is the fastest pitch here. Set by a girl named Lynn."

Adam looked surprised. "Lynn was here?"

"Oh yeah, she must've came here with Lincoln three months ago." Luna said. "This is probably where she won him that Ace Savvy action figure."

"Heh, well I'm about to set a new record." Adam said smirking again.  
He took the three baseballs from the man, quickly handing two to Luna in order to better focus on the game. He took his baseball pitching stance and stared at the target. Without another moment to spare he threw the ball. The ball hit the wall with a vast speed and the machine lit up showing 97 mph.

The game operator looked impressed at Adam's freebie throw. "That's pretty impressive, kid. Maybe you'll be able to beat the high score after all."

Adam narrowed his eyes at the machine and thought about what his first guess would be.

"What'll be your first guess?" The game operator asked.

"108 mph." Adam replied grabbing a ball from Luna's hand.

That reply changed the game operators expression, not seeming to believe Adam could throw that fast. "C'mon kid, you're good but you aren't THAT good."

"That's my guess." Adam spoke looking at the game operator with a smirk.

The game operator shrugged in response. "Fine, go ahead. If you're right then you win a prize AND set a new high score."

Adam nodded then looked to the target on the wall. He took his pitcher stance once again and took a breath in before letting it out. Then, quicker than the first time, he threw the ball forward. It traveled extremely fast and smacked against the wall harder than the first throw. Luna, Adam, and anyone else next to the game looked to the machine and waited for the numbers to pop up. Moments later the numbers showed up reading 108 mph, Adams exact prediction.

The small crowd around the area cheered. Luna stared at Adam dumbfounded. "Dude! How'd you throw that fast?! That was awesome!"

Adam simply smiled. "I average that number during baseball. S'no biggie."

The game operator was too shocked to say much. "...looks like there's a new record for the fastest pitch!" He took a marker out and grabbed the board. "What's your name, kid?"

"Adam Loud."

The game operator wrote down his name above Lynn's, still in disbelief by the feat he just witnessed. "Ok, uh let's see here..." He said looking around for a fit prize. Sadly all the really good prizes were gone due to people also guessing right when they threw a while ago. The only large prize was a stuffed banana. But he had to give Adam something for beating the game. "Here." The game operator said offering the stuffed animal to Adam. "It's the best I can give you right now."

"Thanks." Adam replied, taking the banana with both hands. He turned it around and chuckled with Luna when they saw the banana had a toothy smile along with a pair of glasses on its eyes.

He looked toward the small crowd that gathered and saw a young girl laughing at the banana's unusual features. With one more glance at the goofy banana in his hands, he walked over to the child and offered the stuffed banana to her. The girl giggled and accepted the banana, giving it a tight hug. "Thank you mister!"

Adam smiled and earned a thank you from the parents as well before Luna came from behind him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "That was really generous, Adam. Good job."

"Thanks, Luna. What do you wanna do next?"

Luna gave it a quick thought before leading Adam another way. "Let's get back to the rides again."

"Oh, no more games? What about your friends?" Adam asked.

Luna shrugged. "I forgot that we needed to buy tickets for us to play games, we lucked out on this game but any other game would probably be a no-no. And my friends aren't really anywhere to be found right now, not by me at least. We'll just ride some more rides and head on home."

"There's been a lotta changes of plans today, Luna." Adam said with a smile.

"Yeah there have been." Luna agreed. "Things don't always go as planned, y'know?"

"Yeah. But I'm ready to go on those rides again! ¡Vamanos!" Adam chanted.

"Heh. You know Spanish, dude?"

"Un poco." Adam replied.

"Rad, bro." 

* * *

The rest of the time spent at the carnival was oriented around the rides. Luna showed Adam different rides that had their own different feels to them. Adam began to develop a love for roller coasters and amusement rides all around. From small and quick rides, to big and fast ones, they all gave him an adrenaline rush and still gave him butterflies. Luna felt good seeing Adam so happy and ecstatic. So full of energy outside of his love of sports. His eyes lit up like fireworks every ride they went on, always having a reaction for everything there.

Luna's little mission to keep him in a good spirit while at the carnival was a success, she finally made up for her mistake at the concert. Now all there was to do was get home, now that it was dark outside and the street lamps turned on.

"Oh my God! The look on your face Adam!" Luna laughed.

"I know! The first big hill caught me off guard! And don't even get me started on those corkscrews! Just amazing!" Adam said.

"So whaddaya say about roller coasters? Do ya like em' or hate em'?" Luna asked.

"Love!" Adam responded confidently. "Definitely love! I can't wait to go to them again! Aw man, thanks Luna! Thanks for a great night!"

"No problem, bro." Luna said pinching his cheeks. "If you ever wanna hang out again, when I got free time, just ask."

"Will do." Adam happily said.

"Also," Luna added. "When you say you love roller coasters whaddaya mean by it? Do you love it like a favorite activity, or do you love it like you love Lynn?"

Adam groaned. "You haven't let go of that, huh?"

Luna smiled and shook her head. "Nope. I told you that we'd be coming back to this topic."

Adam sighed but still smiled. "Ok yeah, I really like her. And no I wouldn't say I love roller coasters like I love her, cause she's a special kind of love."

"Awwww that's so sweet." Luna said putting a hand to her chest.

Adam noticed he used the wrong word in his sentence a little too late now. "Wait I don't mean love, I mean like! I mean I really like her like a lot, but loving someone when you don't even know if they like you is a bit of a dangerous thing."

"Adam, c'mon now, you guys are like destined lovers! Just accept it and go ask her out!" Luna encouraged.

"B-but I don't know 100% if she'd like me back!" Adam countered. "I don't wanna ask her out just to have her laugh in my face and tell me 'good one dude, you almost had me there'."

"Adam be real, she would never say something like that for a response to you asking her out. She's a big softie under all that 'tough girl' attitude." Luna said.

"Yeah, prove that to me first, then I'll tell her how I feel." Adam said.

Luna smiled at him. "You'll see someday."

By this point they were 7 minutes away from home, yet they were still in the town. The town was almost deserted, all the lights in the buildings were out except for the street lights. An eerie atmosphere was beginning to present itself, but Luna was trying to keep it out of her mind since they were just a little more of a walk home, now.

But then they both spotted a man leaning against a wall in an alley. He was dressed with a ragged jacket and dark jeans. Had a full scruffy blonde beard along with a mustache. His physique wasn't a very good one. Although he wasn't a standing skeleton, he still wasn't bulky or anything near that. Just something less of toned. He was quick to notice Luna and Adam's presence once they got close. "Why hello there, what brings you down here." The man spoke.

The sudden greeting took Luna a bit off guard, but she shortly came back to her senses. "Oh, hey mister. We just came back from a rockin' carnival, we're on our way home now."

"Ah, a carnival eh?. I used to go to carnivals, hell I even worked at one." He turned and laughed a bit. "Never really could stay away from the beer and alcohol there."

"This guy might be a lil' drunk." Luna jokingly whispered to Adam.

Adam couldn't help but snicker.

The man pulled his attention back to Luna and Adam, now holding a serious expression.  
"It's a little late to be walking around town, don't ya think? A pretty girl like you shouldn't be wanderin' out here all by yourself. You could run into some bad people." The man said in a dark tone that silently startled Luna and Adam.

"Yeah, I guess it is a bit late." Luna spoke, trying to get rid of the rising tension in the atmosphere. "But I'm pretty sure I got this covered.

"You sure?" The man questioned taking a step toward them. "I think I can help you and that kid get around nice and safe." He said, giving a smile that didn't seem innocent at all.

Luna grabbed Adam's arm in a protective grip, earning a look from the boy but still maintaining a smile on her face. "No, we're just heading back home."

"Take your clothes off." The man spoke.

Chills got sent down Luna and Adam's spine. "E-excuse me..?" Luna said, wishing she had misheard him. The smile on her face now replaced with a concerned expression.

"Strip down. Now." The man demanded in a more stern voice.

Luna began moving Adam behind her, "Adam stay behind me."

"Luna!" Adam spoke in a concerned yet hushed voice.

"Listen, man." Luna said in a calm voice to the man. "We don't want any trouble. We just wanna get home."

"Shouldn't have walked around in town past your curfew, hon. Now strip, I'm not gonna say it again." The man said, now closer to Luna and Adam.

"Adam, run." Luna spoke silently.

"What?" Adam asked looking at her like she was crazy.

"Run, now!" Luna sternly spoke.

"No! I'm not leaving you here!" Adam retorted.

Luna turned her attention to Adam with a serious look. "I'll be right behind you, just run!"

"No! Luna, I'm not..." Adam attention snapped to the man mid sentence. Seeing that he was now walking toward them in an aggressive manner.

"Luna watch out!" Adam warned.

Luna could barely turn back to the man before being harshly backhanded and sent falling to the ground.  
Adam was about to rush at the man until he received a push kick to his stomach, moving him backward into a dumpster. He fell to his knees, trying to catch his breath. He heard Luna's panicking voice and looked up to see the man on top of her. He was viciously grabbing at her shirt and trying to rip it off.

Adam quickly ran up to them and jumped on the man's back, punching and pulling at his face. He forced the man off of Luna and continued to hit him and do anything he could to get the man to back off.  
But the man wasn't leaving anytime soon. Adam was doing a good job with defending both him and Luna, but that wasn't enough since the man was dead set on getting what he wanted.

The man ran full speed toward the brick wall next to them, spinning around and jumping into it. Causing Adam to take the full force of the impact and the man's weight, seemingly knocking him out instantly. The man got up from the ground and held his face, checking to see if he found any damages sustained from Adam.

Luna ran to Adam's unconscious body, frightened and worried that something worse happened to him. "Adam!"

She was suddenly swept off her feet by a force on her right tackling her. She fell onto her back and felt her wrists get pinned down next to her head. "GET OFFA ME, MAN!" Luna screamed.

The man laughed maniacally. "Don't worry little girl. This'll be over very soon."

"NO! STOP!" Luna screamed struggling more and more against the man's strength. Her struggles were doing little to nothing, she began tearing up as she felt the man sniff her neck.

"YAH!" The man yelled, suddenly in pain.

Luna looked up and saw a hand holding the man's hair with a death grip. The hand pulled him backward and laid him flat on his back.

"Adam?" Luna called out. Surprised the boy was suddenly awake.

Adam started viscously battering the man's head. Anger in every punch he threw, anger to protect someone he cared about. Anger to stop this man from ruining someone's life forever.

The man held his right hand out, trying to stop the assault that was rendering him battered and bruised. But Adam grabbed his arm first and, with his fighting knowledge, took advantage of it in full fury. He wrapped his left arm around the man's forearm, and his right arm wrapped around the man's bicep. He pulled back with both arms while he put his knee on the man's elbow and pushed forward with it. Within a few moments the man's arm snapped backwards from the elbow with a sickening crack. The arm break was followed with a loud cry of pain from the man, startling Luna as she watched the whole thing.

Adam threw the man's useless arm down and continued punching his and Luna's attacker's face in a fit of rage. By this point their attacker's face was bruised and bloody, and it was very clear he was knocked unconscious by this point, but Adam couldn't see it.

Luna noticed that Adam was too angry to stop, she knew she had to do something before things got worse and he did something he would regret. "Adam!"

Adam snapped out of his blinding fury and turned to Luna.

People who were in their apartments downtown came out and saw the incident. Some already on the phone dialing 911 and others in utter shock at what happened.

Luna saw Adam's shocked reaction at what he did when he looked down. She ran up to him and grabbed him by the wrist. "Come on Adam, let's get out of here." She said walking the other way and pulling him along with her.

"B...but the man..." Adam tried to speak.

"The people already called the cops, they saw the whole thing. He'll be dealt with, let's just get home." Luna said.

Adam remained silent and let Luna take him back home.

* * *

The rest of the walk home was silent but a little more rushed. Luna held Adam in her arms protectively and tightly, the whole ordeal replaying itself back in her mind. Part of Luna was a bit horrified at what Adam displayed when they were still back there. But she knew he did that to protect them, and she knew it was the only thing they could do at the time instead of sitting there and letting it happen.

Luna opened the door to the house and stepped it with Adam.

Everyone was downstairs, sitting together on the couch watching a movie. But once Luna and Adam stepped in they all directed their attention to them. Once they read their faces they knew something was wrong.

Rita paused the movie and asked the first question. "What's wrong, Honey?"

The first and possibly the simplest question. Yet it seemed to be the hardest one. Where could she even start?

"Umm...oh God where do I even _begin_? Adam and I were walking back home from the carnival. Everything was going fine until we got into town just a few minutes from here. This man...this horrible, evil man, saw us and started talking to us."

At this point Lily was starting to whimper and get upset, she could sense that something was wrong in Luna's voice. Lori could see that Luna was trying to hold back tears that were threatening to spill from her eyes. She understood that she was trying to stay strong for her younger siblings and for Adam.

"Adam and I noticed that he wasn't up to any good. So I tried to get Adam to run before he could get him, but Adam insisted on staying with me because he didn't want me to be all alone with the man there." Luna looked at Adam and gave him a small smile, but her face became somber once she faced the rest of the Louds again.

"He told me to...take my clothes off, and after I told Adam to run he backhanded me."

The Louds all looked disturbed by this information, most visually and some of them making audible gasps.

"Adam helped get the man off of me until he got slammed against the wall and was unconscious. The man got back on me and got ready to...do what he wanted. But then Adam suddenly got back up and pulled him off of me. As he fought the man off I noticed that other people in the area were already on the phone dialing 911. The guy was unconscious after Adam was done, I figured the police would handle the guy so I took Adam and we left."

Once she finished there was nothing short of bewildered looks all around the room. No one knew what to say. They all thought saying ANYTHING was wrong to do. But _somebody_ had to break the awkward silence and it was Lynn Sr. "Um...girls, and Lincoln, go upstairs. It's late anyway and your mom and I need to make sure Luna and Adam are okay."

Lincoln grabbed Lily and walked with the majority of his sisters upstairs. None of them retorted to stay downstairs, they knew this wasn't a joking matter at all.

"Lincoln?" Lana asked as she started going into her room.

"Yeah Lana?" Lincoln answered.

"Are Luna and Adam gonna be alright? Are they hurt?" Lana asked, worry clear in her eyes.  
"No they aren't hurt, they'll be fine." Lincoln said. "They just had a bad experience. Don't worry about it, go to bed."

Lana nodded and went into her and Lola's room.

Lincoln couldn't believe what he heard. Luna almost got raped?! That sounded horrible! Who would want to rape someone as sweet and innocent as her? Questions about the whole scenario flew threw his mind, but he was happy to know her and Adam weren't hurt in any fatal way. Maybe he could ask Adam more about what happened when he got upstairs.

* * *

Downstairs Lynn Sr. And Rita were questioning both Luna and Adam separately in the kitchen. Lynn Sr. Was checking on Luna while Rita checked on Adam to find out anymore about the incident, and if they had any injuries they didn't know of.

"Luna, are you sure he didn't touch you _anywhere_ else?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"No, Dad. He didn't get the chance to take my clothes off. Adam didn't let him." Luna replied.

"Adam, honey does your head hurt a lot?" Rita asked checking the back of his head.

Adam shook his head. "Just a little. I'm fine."

Rita still checked around for any more bruises or anything abnormal. She stopped when she got to his hands and examined them further. "Lynn."

Lynn Sr. looked back to Rita only double take and stare at Adam's hands intensely. Luna looked past her Dad's shoulder, her eyes widened seeing what they were looking at. Adam's knuckles were bloody, not to the point when they were coated with blood, but still enough to notice it.

"Adam, son, are you alright?" Lynn Sr. asked concerned.

"Did you split your knuckles open? What wrong?" Rita asked.

"Guys, I'm fine. It's...it's not my blood..." Adam answered.

Rita, Lynn Sr., and Luna all collectively looked Adam in the eye, stunned.

"W-what do you mean, Adam?" Lynn Sr. asked.

Adam looked down. "When I got the man off of Luna the second time I was really angry...I didn't want him to hurt her...I...I got a little out of hand..."

"He's...not dead is he?" Rita asked hesitantly.

"No!" Adam said quickly looking up. "He was breathing when Luna and I left. I saw him breathing."

Lynn Sr., Rita, and Luna all let out a sigh of relief to that. "That's okay, sweetie. You did what you had to do, we're aren't upset." Rita said.

"Just get some sleep, kids." Lynn Sr. said. "Your Mom and I will call and make sure the man is handled."

"Adam, make sure to wash your hands thoroughly." Rita said.

"I will."

Luna and Adam did what they were told and went upstairs. But before they went to their separate rooms  
Luna stopped Adam in the middle of the hall. No doubt she wanted to say some words about the matter.  
"Adam, I just wanna say a few things before you go to bed."

"Ok." Adam replied, waiting for her.

Luna grabbed onto him and pulled him into a tight hug. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry about tonight. I'm sorry that you had to experience that whole incident."

"That's fine, Luna." Adam reassured, hugging her back. "I know you didn't mean for that to happen. But thanks for a great night at the carnival."

Luna had a small smile for a moment. "No, I should be thanking you. You basically saved both of us back there. That was really brave."

Adam pulled back and smiled at her. "We all gotta look out for each other, right?"

Luna smiled back at him. "Right."

She gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. "G'night, Adam."

"Night, Luna."

They finally let go and walked their own separate directions. Adam took a short visit to the bathroom to wash his hands off before coming back into Lincoln's room.

"Hey, bro." Adam greeted.

"Hey Adam, are you and Luna alright?" Lincoln asked sitting up in bed.

Adam waved his hand, "Yeah were fine, dude. Just a little shaken up."

"Hey I hid on the stairs and heard your knuckles were bloody, are you sure you're fine?" Lincoln asked.

Adam nodded. "Yeah, it's not my blood."

Lincoln's eyes went wide. "Really?"

"Yep. I beat the guy real good so that Luna and I would be safe to leave.

"Wow." Lincoln said astonished.

"Yeah I know. I just hope he's behind bars now." Adam said getting in the bed.

"I bet he won't mess with anyone ever again." Lincoln said.

Adam nodded. "You got that right."

There was a knock at the door suddenly. "Can I come in?" A voice asked.

"Yeah, come in." Lincoln said.

The door opened and Lynn appeared. "We just wanted to check on you."

Adam looked past Lynn and saw all the other Loud siblings at the door. Even Luna who looked like she already reassured them.

"Oh, thanks. Yeah I'm perfectly fine, just ready to get some sleep."

"I told you guys." Luna spoke. "I already checked on him, I made sure he was okay."

"Well we all wanted to see for ourselves." Lori justified.

"Guys, I'm okay. There's nothing wrong with me, I'm just a little sore." Adam said.

The siblings, except for Luna, all looked calmer and at ease now. They all said their good nights and went back to their rooms. Lynn turned out the light to their room and gave them both a warm smile before closing the door.

"Alright, Lincoln, g'night." Adam said.

"Good night." Lincoln said laying down on his pillow, no longer too worried or concerned about the situation.

* * *

 **Wow, yeah that happened. Sorry If that felt a bit rushed for you guys, I was trying to make sure I got the chapter out faster toward the middle to the end of the chapter. But the whole "almost raped" thing with Luna was planned for a while, I hope it was executed as dark as I hoped for it to be for you guys. Also for anyone that questions how Adam seemingly got knocked out then miraculously woke back up, I just chalk it up to an adrenaline rush of protecting the ones he cares about doin' it for him. And going back to the whole drug and alcohol talk between Adam and Luna, I just assumed Luna doesn't drink or do drugs, but a lotta people draw or depict Luna as a teen who would do stuff like that. I mean sometimes I think about it, and it makes a little sense, once you think about how she acts and what she may see or be interested in within her free time other than musical instruments and song notes. But ultimately I wrote it so that she doesn't do either. That'll probably stick unless the show says otherwise. But anyway, It's really late, I got school in the morning, so I'm gonna start writing the next chapter in the morning. I hope you guys enjoyed it, please review and let me know what you liked about the chapter or if you have any questions about it. I'll see you guys in the next one! Buh-bye for now!**


	8. Chapter 8: Predictable Consequences

**Finally, I've been meaning to get this chapter out for a while now! I failed once again with publishing it in a good time frame, since it took a month and a half to do it (REALLY sorry about that again). Also I understand many of you viewers love this story and want to see more chapters from it, but I would like to point out that what the guests were doing is not ok. Please DO NOT post review on review about when I should upload the chapter or when I should start writing it, I had told you guys I was beginning to write the chapter when I said I was going to in the morning. I also had a lot of school work to do, writers block once again, and to top it off finals. I didn't have much time or creativity to write a lot during the time it took o publish this. If any of my viewers have a problem with the time with which the chapters come out just create an account if you don't have one already and PM me, ask me there if there's anything I could do to speed up production or such. Don't just post reviews using a Guest account that I can't directly reply to and bug the living mess out of me on getting the chapter completed or telling me to start at a certain time. Writing sometimes takes time! Sorry about the rant, I just had to get that off my chest. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope you found it worth the wait.**

* * *

Adam was woken up by the sound of a door slamming downstairs. He groggily sat up and moved his legs over the edge of the bed. "What was that?"

He rubbed his eyes and took a glance at the clock but double took as he realized the time. "1:55?! Why am I still waking up late?!" He tried to stand up from the bed but ended up falling back into it. His stomach felt horrible now, worse than the other three days when it was in pain. And it had a horrible empty feeling to it today. "Geez, my stomach's feeling like crap. Worse than it did yesterday, and it's not getting any better..."

The door to the room swung open suddenly, revealing an vexed Lincoln.

"Well that explains the door slam." Adam remarked to himself after taking a glance at Lincoln. "Something wrong, bro?"

"I don't wanna talk about it." Lincoln replied falling face up on the bed and crossing his arms.

"C'mon, Linc." Adam persisted. "If you don't talk about it you'll be in a bad mood all day. Just let it out."

"There's no point!" Lincoln snapped. "Nothing's gonna change if I did!"

"What do you mean?" Adam questioned.

Lincoln sat up and met his eyes. "I'm still gonna have the same problem with the same kid!"

Adam adjusted his whole body to face him, trying to grasp the situation better. "Ok start from the beginning, and tell me what's going on."

Lincoln sighed and hesitated before going on. "I was out with my friends having a good time. It was a normal day, and nothing was wrong until this one guy came up to us and started messing with us. He was being a jerk for no reason. I wanted to make him stop but he just pushed me aside like I was nothing. And it's been bugging me since I was on my way back home."

"That's it? Lincoln, it's not that serious. If your problem is just him being a jerk, then I'll handle him." Adam said.

"No, he pushed me around like a sack of potatoes! That's my problem, Adam! I need to toughen up! I need to be able to stand up to my bullies." Lincoln retorted, hopping off the bed. "Which is why I want you to hit me."

Adam blinked at the boy in disbelief, "What?"

"If I'm gonna get tougher I need to be able to take a punch, so I want you to hit me!" Lincoln replied.

"Lincoln," Adam spoke trying to calm the boys nerves. "You're basically my little brother, I can't just hit you."

"Why not?!" Lincoln questioned growing angry.

Adam looked at him with a shocked, yet serious look. "Because I care about you, Linc! If you have any problems I'm gonna help you not hurt you!"

"You WILL be helping me, by punching me really hard."

"What's punching you gonna solve? You'll just end up with another issue."

"It'll make me tougher, and if I'm tougher then I'll be able to hold my own against bullies!"

Adam face palmed himself. "Lincoln, you don't get tougher by repeatedly being punched in the face. It takes actual training and much safer methods to do so."

"I don't have time for actual training! I want you to punch me now!" Lincoln retorted.

Adam sighed. It was almost as if what he just said went right through Lincoln's head and fell on deaf ears. "Lincoln listen to yourself, do you know how crazy you sound?"

Lincoln's fuse seemingly got shorter and shorter by the second after each denial. The desperation in his attitude towards this situation was only growing as the situation went on. "Just hit me!"

"No."

Adam suddenly felt a push that made him take a small step back. Lincoln must be taking different, more desperate measures to get what he wanted. "Lincoln.." Adam spoke giving a warning glance.

Lincoln noticed he was prodding a button that was starting to budge. "What? Don't like that? Then do something about it." He gave Adam another shove and saw his face become a little more vexed.

"Lincoln, cut it out!" Adam said in a stern voice. "If I hit you you're gonna be knocked out."

"I don't care! Just do it!" Lincoln urged.

Without warning, Lynn suddenly opened the door and walked in. "Is everything alright? We heard shouting."

"Yeah, what's going on?" Lori said walking in behind Lynn.

Adam sighed a breath of relief. "Thank God." He knew the girls would notice that something was wrong since there was rarely any yelling between Lincoln and Adam. They got along just as good as Lincoln and Clyde did.

"Where's the other girls?" Adam asked noticing a shortage of heads in the room.

"They're right outside. None of them except us really knew if it was a good idea to just barge in or come in individually." Lynn replied.

"Well either way, you guys need to help me with this." Adam said.

"Help you with what?" Lori asked, switching glances between Adam and Lincoln.

"Linc had some problems with a bully today, so now he wants to get tougher in order to fend off the bully and take care of himself. But now he wants me to punch him since he believes that'll make him tougher faster." Adam explained.

"What?! No, Adam don't hit him!" She said separating the two. "He's only 11 he's being dumb. Don't let him egg you on like that! Lynn can really mess him up when she's mad, and we all know you're stronger than her so we don't need that."

Lynn looked at Lori, quirking an eyebrow. "Uh hang on a sec..he's not stronger than me."

Lori face palmed herself, "What have I started…."

"No, Lynn I think he actually is." Lincoln added.

Lynn faced Lincoln with growing aggravation. "No he's not! I've tossed you around like a pillow case numerous times!"

Lincoln shrugged. "Yeah but he's tossed you around like a football a lot more and barely breaks a sweat doing it."

"He's got a point, Lynn." Adam said.

"I'm a few seconds away from making your body twist in ways the human body shouldn't." Lynn threatened narrowing her eyes.

Adam gave Lincoln a dull look. "Great, now I got two of you guys trying to fight me."

"Lynn, we've all seen you guys wrestle. When Adam tries, he manhandles you." Lincoln said.

"He does not!" Lynn exclaimed, extremely aggravated. "It was just that one time!"

"Still, he could do it again. Couldn't you, Adam?" Lincoln questioned turning to Adam.

Adam was nervously rubbing the back of his head. He'd rather not be in the conversation now.

"Yeah, Adam." Lynn repeated, turning and giving him a threatening glare. "COULDN'T you?" She sneered.

"Lynn, enough, we need to focus on the more important topic." Lori stated.

Lynn gave Adam a mild glare for a few more moments until she sighed and calmed down. "Yeah, you're right."

Lori turned to Lincoln and held him by the shoulders. "Lincoln, if you ever had trouble with bullies then you need to tell us and handle it the right way. Telling any of us to hit you won't solve anything, you'll just end up in more pain."

Lincoln glanced at the ground. He wanted to have the strength to defend himself, but he didn't want to have to wait to get it. Sadly he realized there wasn't any other option and returned to Lori's eyes. "But what about the bully?"

"Lynn and Adam would handle him. And even if he kept messing with you then we'd all give him a piece of our mind." Lori replied.

Lincoln looked down with not much optimism left. "Yeah...ok."

Lori rubbed his shoulders reassuringly. "Don't worry, bro. You'll be fine."

With another nod from Lincoln, she left the room and let all the other sisters know that everything was alright.

Lincoln sighed defeated and plopped down in his bed. Adam walked over and sat next to him. "Lincoln if you want, I can teach you martial arts."

Lincoln sat up and looked at him with some optimism left. "You can?"

Adam nodded. "But only in a safe way, and if you agree to never abuse it and to only use it for self defense."

Lincoln nodded. "I will!"

"Ok, we'll start sometime later." Adam said. "I'll teach you all the fundamentals and beginner level stuff." He then stood up and headed for the door after Lynn shortly left their room.

"Adam?"

"Yeah?"

Lincoln rubbed the back of his head. "I'm really sorry about the whole 'egging you on to hit me' thing. I just wanted to be able to defend myself..."

"It's alright, bro, I understand." Adam said giving Lincoln a reassuring smile.

Lincoln smiled back.

Adam then left the room, now wondering if Lynn was mad about the tiny argument of their differing strength. But he noticed something was off with his heart, an irregularity within how fast it was beating. It could've been the heated situation that just went down upstairs, but it was starting to worry him a little.

"Lynn." He called turning the corner to the kitchen. Spotting Lynn Sr. looking over ingredients in a book while Lynn was leaning on a counter.

Lynn looked at him while chomping down on an apple. "Hey." She spoke with a dull look.

Adam stopped a few feet from Lynn. "You seem mad."

"I'm not." Lynn spoke, trying to sound sincere.

Adam gave her a look.

Lynn sighed and made her way into the family room. "Ok I lied, I'm a little mad."

"Lynn you shouldn't let their words affect you that much." Adam said following her.

"I'm not," Lynn replied taking another bite of her apple. "I already know I can break your arm if I really wanted to, besides, I'm not that mad about it."

"Not that mad about it?" Adam repeated. "You were about to go ballistic on me. I saw it in your eyes."

"Well it's because it bugs me. You know you aren't stronger than me right?" Lynn asked.

Adam's eyes darted around the room looking for an answer. Lynn could read the uncertainty on his face. "Aw come on, you think you are too?"

"They brought up good points, Lynn. They aren't wrong." Adam said.

"I can toss you around just as good as you man handle me." Lynn said. "I top most of the boys athletic capabilities in school regularly, who says I can't do the same to you?"

Adam sighed. "I'm different than most boys on the teams at school. I'm always at least one of the best players on them."

"Yeah, whatever." Lynn retorted turning and walking away. "I'm done with this conversation."

"Lynn..." Adam paused suddenly feeling light headed.

Lynn stopped turned to him, "What, tough guy?"

Black dots began appearing in Adam's vision as he struggled to keep his balance. "I don't...feel...so good..."

To Lynn, it all happened in slow motion. Adam's eyes rolled back before they closed. His body went limp and he collapsed onto his side.

"Adam!" Lynn yelled running to his form.

Lynn Sr. dashed into the room after hearing the commotion, "What happened?!"

Lynn started panicking. "I don't know! He passed out and then fell! I don't know what's going on!"

Lynn Sr. cursed under his breath. "Lynn, breathe. I need you to go get your mother now."

Lynn didn't want to leave Adam, but sitting there wasn't going to help him. She did what her dad told her and ran to get her mother.

Lynn Sr. checked Adam's pulse. Still pumping. He brought his ear to the boys mouth, relieved to feel some air blow against it. He was alive, but unconscious and unresponsive.

The siblings all cluttered at the stairs. Staring at Adam's unconscious form stunned. The image of Adam's motionless body on the floor shocked them to their core and froze them all in place. None of them wanted to believe that he was dead. They wouldn't even believe their own eyes if they actually saw his corpse. But looking at the situation in front of them, they couldn't help but think he was already gone.

"Dad?!" Lori called out a little frantic, beginning to get the other sisters to share in the panic. "Dad what's going on?!"

Before he could even speak he was bombarded with other questions. Each cutting the other off before he could answer.

"Why is Adam on the ground?!" Luan asked.

"Is..is he dead?!" Lola asked.

"Has something fatal occurred?!" Lisa asked.

"What happened?!" Leni asked.

"Is he gonna be alright?!" Lincoln asked.

"GUYS!" Lynn Sr. yelled. Everyone instantly hushed themselves. "I need you to stand back and give him some room. He fainted but we don't know what's going on with him. Once your mother gets in the room we're going to the hospital."

As if on cue, Lynn ran out of her parents room pulling Rita with her hand. Lynn herself looked more scared than anyone else in the room.

"Lynn told me what happened, is he alright?" Rita asked, showing her motherly instincts kicked in.

"He's breathing. But I don't know exactly what's happening to him. We need to get him to the hospital." Lynn Sr. explained picking Adam up.

"I'll get the van started." Rita said grabbing the keys. "Girls, stay here. We'll be back soon."

"No! Mom, we're going with you guys!" Lori argued. The rest of the siblings all voicing their agreement with her.

"Yeah we care about him just as much as you do!" Luna added. "We wanna make sure he's alright!"

Rita looked to Lynn Sr., trying to see what his input on the situation would be. Lynn Sr. knew there was no point in arguing about having the girls, and Lincoln, stay home since they didn't know if Adam's condition was severe.

"Just let them come with us. We don't have time to sit here and argue while Adam is like this." Lynn Sr. said walking to Rita.

"Alright, lets go." Rita said.

Without much hesitation at all they all rushed into Vanzilla. The younger siblings all mainly sat in the back, while in the front, Lily was being held by Luan and Adam was laying on the laps of Luna, and Lori. Lori held his torso up and let his head rest on her inner elbow while Luna held onto his legs to make sure he didn't fly out the seat.

Rita had to make sure not to raise much attention, blowing through transitioning yellow traffic lights, and barely stopping at stop signs.  
She earned a few concerned looks from her children in the process due to the hectic driving. But they all understood why she was doing it, so they focused primarily on keeping a level and calm head for the time being. They were just going to have to deal with it for the better good of Adam.

Lynn sat in the row behind Adam and the oldest sisters. Constantly peeking over the seat to check his expression. Desperately hoping he would spring to life or open his eyes and smile telling her it's all a joke. But he didn't. He was still, with only his chest moving slowly as he breathed in his unconscious state. She could only hope they were close to the hospital to find out what was wrong with Adam.

* * *

"How long do you think he'll be in there for?" Leni asked.

"I'm not sure." Rita replied. "The doctors said they'd bring us in when they have questions or have an answer for what's going on with him."

"I hope nothing's wrong with him." Lincoln spoke with a concerned expression.

"I don't think there's anything seriously wrong with him, son. He's still breathing so he isn't in serious danger." Lynn Sr. explained.

Lincoln looked unsure about the info he was given. He didn't know if this was false information his parents would give him to lessen his worry or if it was genuine logic. He glanced over at Lynn to see how she was doing with the whole event happening. The scarlet sports girl looked like a worried spouse that heard she could possibly lose her partner soon. He could tell she wanted to just break the door down to make sure Adam was alright, the doctors always seemed to take a long time to come up with answers for a loved ones condition in situations like this.

"Lynn." Lincoln spoke, seemingly snapping Lynn out of her thoughts.

"Huh?"

"Are you okay?"

Lynn sighed and rubbed her temples. "I'm fine, I'm just worried about Adam right now."

"It's alright to be scared Lynn." Lincoln reassured. "We're all scared for him too."

"I'm more than just scared, Linc. I'm worried, concerned, and frightened. He's my best friend. I know he's breathing right now but what if he's got something that takes affect over time? Something more serious that he can't survive?"

Lincoln didn't know how to answer that. He was just as clueless to Adam's condition as she was. He didn't want to give her false hope but he also didn't want to scare her more than she already was. The best he could give her was a small shrug.

Before the conversation could go anywhere else the door to his room opened. All the Louds present directed their attention to the door, looking thankful that the waiting seemed to have ended.

The doctor stepped out and looked to the parents. "Mr. and Mrs. Loud?"

"Yes?" They both answered.

"Come in please."

Rita and Lynn Sr. shared a glance before standing up.

"Wait!" Lynn spoke grabbing her parents attention. She stood and walked next to them. "Can I come in with you? I really wanna see Adam."

Rita and Lynn Sr. could understand how Lynn wanted to see Adam more than any of the other siblings did. It wasn't that the other siblings didn't care, it was that Lynn was closer to Adam than any of them were. Lynn Sr. looked to the doctor. "How many of them can we bring in?"

"Just one for now. Don't wanna startle him with thirteen faces staring at him when he wakes up." The doctor replied.

Rita gestured Lynn to follow them in, she didn't hesitate to do so.

* * *

Lynn ran to Adam's bedside as soon as they got in, while the doctor talked to Rita and Lynn Sr.

"Hello, I'm Doctor Samuel. Just to get the first set of questions out of the way, Adam is completely fine. He seemed to have fainted from extreme exhaustion and fatigue." The doctor said.

"Thank you, Dr. Samuel. What do you think could've caused that?" Rita questioned.

"Well that's what I wanted to talk to you both about. Has Adam been showing any unusual traits or behaviors compared to your other children?" Samuel asked.

Rita and Lynn Sr. shared a glance. "Only a few, like waking up pretty late in the afternoon everyday. And consistently being extremely tired after being active outside with our daughter Lynn, even though they're both really good, well conditioned athletes." Lynn Sr. listed.

Samuel nodded his head understandingly, coming to what he believed the conclusion to be. "I think I know what's going on."

Lynn, Lynn Sr., and Rita all looked at him waiting for the answer they were looking for.

"I believe Adam has been suspending his diet."

Rita and Lynn Sr. looked on in shock. "What?!"

Lynn didn't seem to grasp exactly what the doctor meant. But seeing her parents worrying reactions made her increasingly concerned and almost start panicking. "What? What does that mean?"

Samuel looked at Lynn and seemed hesitant on telling her what was wrong with Adam. Seeing her in enough distress about the situation already. "Well, it means he wasn't eating, at all."

That's when it hit her. The realization. The memory that scrambled back to her mind that she tried so hard to remember for the past few days. The stomach churning guilt that spiraled at her core. She looked at Adam and placed her hand on his. "I'm so sorry."

"So now, it makes more sense as to why he fainted." Samuel concluded.

"Will anything happen to him down the road?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Not if he starts to eat normally again." Samuel replied. "You see, people can go a very long time without food. I doubt he didn't drink any water because that could've done much more damage for his age, but normally he would be able to survive without eating for a while. The only difference with his situation, being an active athlete and at a stage where his body is changing massively, is that it was more harmful to him than to other people."

"No wonder he was so exhausted." Rita remarked.

"Now even though he should make a full-recovery fairly soon, there are a few things to do to make sure that happens." Samuel informed. "You know like certain nutrients to digest at this point that he may have a deficiency of."

Lynn watched as Samuel informed her parents of what Adam needed in order to recover. She wanted to listen in on the information so she could help if he needed it, or to make sure he ate exactly what he needed to. But then a sudden twitch from Adam's hand snapped her attention to his face instantly. "Adam?"

She heard groans coming from his mouth as he seemingly stirred back awake.

"L...Lynn?" Adam softly spoke opening his eyes.

"Adam!" Lynn silently but happily exclaimed.

"W..where am I?" Adam asked slowly looking around and seeing an unfamiliar scenery.

"You're in the hospital, you fainted." Lynn explained.

"Fainted?!" Adam asked sitting up a little surprised.

Lynn nodded. "You had us scared to death." She said with a small smile.

"Us?" Adam questioned.

"Mom, Dad, the sibs...me." Lynn said.

Adam noticed a sudden difference in Lynn's emotions. Her small smile disappeared and she stared into his eyes. Without much warning she pulled him into a tight embrace and held him there. The first genuine hug she ever gave Adam. He could feel her heartbeat on his chest, matching a slow pace with her breathing. Her unusually soft touch relaxed him. He never felt something like this from her before, something so genuine and caring.

Lynn pulled back slightly and kissed him on the cheek before pulling him back in.

Adam was glad Lynn pulled him back into the hug, he was blushing wildly and didn't want her seeing it. But he enjoyed every moment he spent in her arms.

"Oh, looks like Adam's awake." Rita pointed out noticing that he was conscious.

Lynn finally let him go and allowed him to get his space back. Adam still looked a little taken by surprise given the moment he just had with Lynn.

"Adam, are you feeling alright?" Lynn Sr. asked.

Adam looked to Lynn Sr. and nodded once he stopped thinking about the tender moment. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Well, son, we'd like to know why you decided to stop eating for four days."

Adam looked away for a moment, he didn't want to tell them why because he believed the truth would make the situation worse. But he's worried them enough, they have the right to know. "I over heard the girls saying that I just wasted things a few nights ago. I didn't want to keep wasting any food or anything by eating too much so I stopped eating."

Lynn Sr. rested his forehead on the palm of his hand and exhaled. "Adam, you can't just 'not eat'. It's unhealthy. You could die from that!"

Adam shrugged, "I want everyone to like me. Since I stopped eating, they stopped complaining."

Lynn Sr. smirked at Adam. He pat him on the shoulder. "You have really good intentions. But that's dangerous, and I don't want you doing that anymore."

Adam looked concerned, "But I finally have them comfortable with living with me."

Lynn Sr. shook his head, "Don't worry about it. Mom and I will think of something."

Adam looked down.

"You don't need to impress us, Adam." Lynn Sr. reassured.

Adam looked up at him. "I feel like I need to do something good in order for everyone to believe I'm worth the hassle."

"You already did. You showed us that you would put your own health at risk, just to make everyone else happy." Lynn Sr. explained. "That was very noble, and generous. I'm very proud of you."

Adam was in disbelief. That's the first time any adult in his life ever said they were proud of him. Especially a parental figure. "You're proud of me?" Adam asked.

"We both are." Rita replied.

Adam felt a smile form on his face, he wasn't use to being the kid that people said they were proud of.

Lynn Sr. shifted his gaze to his daughter. "Lynn, I'm sure you understand that what you discussed with your siblings caused more bad than good?"

Lynn Jr. looked down and nodded.

"If you ever have an issue with food or anything like this you need to tell your mother and I. Got it?" Lynn Sr. asked.

"Yes." Lynn Jr. replied.

"Good. We'll go let your sisters know that everything's fine." Lynn Sr. said before walking out with Rita to update the rest of the Louds.

Lynn turned to Adam and sat next to his legs on the bed.

"So..." Lynn spoke, unsure if she wanted to push the conversation further.

"So.." Adam repeated, slowly looking back into her eyes.

"So...you really heard us talking a few nights ago? About your eating habits?" Lynn asked, looking concerned about the answer she'd receive.

Adam hesitantly nodded. "Yeah..."

Lynn felt a pit enter her gut. She had an overwhelming feeling that he wasn't eating when she first suspected it, but somehow it slipped her mind. It hurt her to think about how he went throughout those four days without a single morsel. Not including the snow cone he had with Luna. She felt like she had betrayed him at a time where he needed her. "I'm really sorry, Adam. I should've had your back on the convo."

Adam waved his hand. "It's alright, Lynn. You don't have to apologize."

"No I do! I really screwed up here! We all did! You shouldn't have had to go through something like that!" Lynn said.

"Lynn, I'm fine now. I'm still breathing aren't I?" Adam asked.

"Yeah but it was a close call!" Lynn argued. "Who knows what would've happened if you didn't faint and we didn't find out what was going on?"

"I'm alive, that's all that matters now. I'm not mad at any of you." Adam said.

Lynn sighed. It was worthless trying to persuade Adam to feel differently. "How do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Forgive so easily." Lynn said. "You're so quick to forgive us, almost as if we did nothing to you. The sibs and I would've still been bickering with each other for at least another day if we ever did something to each other."

Adam shrugged. "You guys are really special to me. You're something I've never had but always wanted."

Lynn smiled at him. He always did have a skill in making her smile.

She then turned to Samuel. "Dr. Samuel, how long will it be until he can come back home?"

"The checkup is done so whenever he's ready to go you can take him home." Dr. Samuel answered giving a generic but good hearted smile.

"Ok." Lynn looked back at Adam expectantly. "Ready?"

"Yeah. I just hope the girls, and Lincoln, don't get mad at me for worrying them so much." Adam replied slowly pulling himself out of the bed.

Lynn got up and helped him out. "They won't, trust me. They'll be glad to see you!"

They opened the door to see the siblings looking a little sad, given the fact they just got lectured after receiving the news about why Adam was in the hospital. But as soon as they saw Adam they swarmed around him in a group hug.

"Are you alright, Adam?" Luna asked.

"We are literally the worst!" Lori said.

The rest of the siblings, except Lynn, were all apologizing and speaking their regrets. None of them knew what was going on with Adam, nor did they intend to cause such a negative outcome. Had they known what was going on this whole time they would've acted differently.

Their excessive apologies seemed to go on longer than expected for Rita so she felt it best to intervene. "Lincoln, girls, he's fine. All he needs is to eat quite a bit today, I'm sure you guys can help with that if it makes you feel better."

The girls all listened and stopped, but they still held onto Adam like he was a newborn in need of protecting.

"How are you feeling, now?" Lola asked.

"Hungry." Adam humorously remarked.

Lynn smiled at him. "I've got just the thing."

* * *

Adam stared at the mysterious sandwich in his hand. He could smell the spicy marinara sauce on the inside of the sandwich as well as the well cooked meatballs. He looked at Lynn with uncertain eyes.

"What is this?"

"It's a Spicy Meatball Sub! One of my favorites!" Lynn replied plopping down on the couch next to him with a sub of her own.

"Spicy?" Adam glanced at the sub in his hands suspiciously. "How spicy?"

"Eh, decently spicy." Lynn said shrugging. "Then again I've had a ton of them throughout the year so I may be used to the spice."

Adam didn't know if he really wanted to try out Lynn's sandwich. But then again he hasn't eaten in four days, what harm could it do to finally eat something? He quickly discarded any negative thoughts about this new sub and decided to finally take a bite.

Lynn stared bewilderedly at Adam, and watched as he wolfed down the foot long in record time. She wasn't even sure if he had stopped to chew the sub while he practically inhaled it.

Adam wiped his mouth and huffed. "Whew, it IS a bit spicy." He looked over and saw Lynn, eyes wide and mouth agape. "What?"

"...I knew you were hungry..but I didn't think you were THAT hungry."

Adam couldn't help but smile. "If you think THAT was crazy you should see me eat after training for Junior Football playoffs!"

Lynn laughed at the memory. "Still can't believe we made it to the playoffs after what Brent did."

Adam put a hand to his forehead. "Oh don't remind me."

Lynn got up on the couch and stood on it, puffing her chest out and putting her fists on her hips. "'Forget what Coach wants us to do! Listen to me! I'm the best quarterback in the league!'" Lynn said mocking her teammates deepening voice.

Adam laughed at her imitation before standing up on the couch with her and speaking in his own imitation of his teammate. "'Don't even worry about blocking! I'm too fast for these brick heads anyway!'"

Lynn started busting out laughing. "Then the very next play he got sacked by two of their biggest players!"

Adam held his sides and laughed with her. "The look on his face was priceless! I don't even think he knew what had happened!"

Lynn laughed even harder and fell on the couch. Adam sat down facing her wiping a tear away while he tried to settle down.

Lynn's face was red from laughing so hard. She sat up and sighed once she was able to catch her breath. Brushing her bangs from her eyes. "Oh man. That was funny. Good times."

Adam nodded. "Yeah. Can't wait til' next year."

Lynn suddenly jumped up in excitement and slapped Adam on the arm. "Hey!"

Adam looked at her confused. "Hey.."

"No I mean hey as in: I just realized something!" Lynn replied.

"Realized what?"

"Basketball! Tryouts are gonna start tomorrow after school!"

"Oh great! That's perfect!"

Lynn nodded, "Yeah! I've been waiting to shoot some hoops for our school! It is so gonna rock!"

"Wait but, would it be coed?" Adam questioned with lowered excitement.

Lynn's smile dropped a bit noticing Adam's reaction. "Well...no actually. There's a boys only team and a girls only team. There's not really a coed team at our age."

Adam seemed bummed out by the news. "Oh. Dang."

"Well hey, we can still have fun during Basketball." Lynn reassured grabbing Adam's hands. "I mean yeah we won't play together on the same exact team, but we can still meet up before and after practice."

"Yeah, you're right." Adam admitted.

"And, we can come to each other's games! So it won't be bad at all!" Lynn added.

Adam shrugged, not too convinced. "It'd still be more fun if we played together."

"Yeah I know, it sucks. But trust me, it'll be just as fun." Lynn assured.

Adam sighed. "I hope so."

Lynn playfully punched him on the arm. "C'mon, don't get all mopey on me."

Adam smiled. "Alright, alright."

"Now before we say anything else I'm gonna hurry and eat my sub before it gets cold." Lynn said, grabbing her sub and taking a bite.

Adam yawned. "I'll just go ahead and get some sleep then. Turn in early tonight."

"You sure?" Lynn asked with a mouthful of her favorite sub. "It's kinda early for that."

Adam nodded rubbing his eyes. "Hopefully I can wake up earlier in the morning."

Lynn shrugged and continued to eat while Adam made his way upstairs.

That meal made Adam a lot more sleepier than he thought it would. He felt his legs get heavier each step he took upstairs, sleep almost had him by the time he made it to the top where he'd normally pivot to the right to his and Lincoln's room. But he heard some commotion within the bathroom. A hushed curse that failed to stay silent from whoever was vexed enough to say it. A thought crossed Adam's mind to whether he should stay out of whatever was angering the person in the bathroom. But sleeping on the problem wasn't going to fix it at all. So he decided to go ahead and make his way to the bathroom. He stopped at the door and knocked softly.

There was a moment of silence before some shifting was heard and the door was slightly opened. Luna peeked from the opening, trying to compose herself and conceal any anger she had previously held. "Oh, it's just you."

"Is there something wrong?" Adam asked.

Luna shook her head and forced a smile on her face. "No, everything's alright." Adam could tell she was faking a happy tone too.

"Luna, I heard you curse. You sounded like you were mad about something."

Luna's smile slowly faded once she knew she couldn't keep the act up. She sighed and stepped aside to let Adam in, then promptly shutting  
the door.

Adam looked to the hole that was usually on the floor, Luna had placed her school backpack onto it to prevent anyone downstairs from hearing what she was talking about. "That bad?"

Luna nodded.

"What happened?"

Luna rubbed her arms a bit uncomfortable with talking about the situation. "My friend and I, we got into a fight recently. Over the phone. We're really close and things usually seem to fix themselves between us, but now I think our relationship is at the worst it can be. I don't know if we'll ever fix this..."

"Wow, that's sounds horrible." Adam said.

Luna only nodded in agreement.

"Well you said you guys were close right? I think if you guys just talk it out things can go back to normal."

Luna shook her head. "I dunno, Adam. This fight was really bad. It's gonna take a lot more than generic apologies to solve it."

Adam looked like he was at a loss of options. "What about telling the sibs? I'm sure they can talk to your friend about-"

"Actually, Adam, I'd rather you not tell anyone else." Luna interrupted. "I don't wanna worry anyone."

"But you're worrying ME, Luna." Adam stated.

"I know but you can handle this. You won't go completely crazy about this like they will." Luna said.

Adam hopelessly stared at Luna, not telling anyone was the last thing he wanted to do. "Luna..."

"I can count on you, right? You won't tell anyone?" Luna questioned with a serious face.

Adam looked away from her eyes and tried to think of a better solution. None of this seemed to be a good idea at all. Nothing about staying quiet sounded promising for anyone.

"Please.." Luna begged silently. She brought Adam's gaze to her and stared deeply into his eyes.

Adam hesitantly sighed. "Okay..."

"Good." Luna calmly said. "I'll think of something to fix it so don't be concerned."

Luna turned and opened the bathroom door, gesturing Adam to go about his business. "Go ahead and get to bed, you look sleepy."

Adam listened without much else to say and left the room. Leaving Luna to her thoughts.

* * *

Adam opened the door to the shared room he had with Lincoln and plopped onto the bed.

"Going to bed early tonight?" Lincoln asked. He was currently on the floor reading comics and by the looks of it wasn't going to sleep anytime soon.

"Yeah." Adam replied. "Feelin' pretty tired."

Lincoln put his comic book down for a moment and faced Adam. "Adam? Can you promise me something?"

Adam lifted his head off the bed and turned to Lincoln. "Promise what?"

"Can you promise you won't do this again? Promise that if you have a problem that you need to talk about that you'll tell us and let us help you?" Lincoln asked.

Oh the irony.

Adam stared at Lincoln soundless. Obviously Lincoln was talking about the eating problem that was gone, but Adam was thinking about a new issue. He had just told Luna he wouldn't tell anyone about her mishap with her friend, but now Lincoln wants him to make him a promise that he has to keep. Adam couldn't feel anymore worse than he does now with holding in the issue with Luna.

"I promise." Adam said.

"Great, you'll see that it's better to let us help you out. Trust me!" Lincoln said before going back to his comic.

Adam placed his head back on the bed. He made a promise he had already broken. At some point however, he was going to have to live up to that promise. Guilt was already building up in his mind, guilt with how Luna would react to his betrayal. Even though it could help her out in the end, it may spell out more disasters than the situation was worth.

 **Aaaaaand that's that chapter! I feel like this one may be rushed, it seemed a bit fast once I read over it. But I'm not gonna waste time over it, I might as well get the chapter posted and not keep you guys waiting any longer. But yeah, Adam's little eating problem is now seemingly solved. And now he's got other things he's gotta deal with. Oh btw I've been active on Tumblr for the whole time while I was writing this chapter. I managed to request some drawings of Adam to be drawn! I'll probably change the cover image to my favorite one so far so you guys can finally see what Adam looks like in case you don't already have an image in your head from past descriptions. I will say, however, that he got a bit of a redesign. But in the end it makes him look better, so I'll have to change a little stuff for him in this story so it matches what he looks like. Just minor changes that can be done down the road. I'll post a link to the request of him and Lynn that was drawn by studiokarkats/ laugh-out-loud-house later. Right now all I know is that I'm tired and need some sleep. Ill start writing for this chapter as soon as I can, I should have an easier time getting the next chapter done faster since it's summer. But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review and let me know how you felt about this it! Until the next chapter, See ya!**


	9. Chapter 9: Back To The Basics

**Geez I need to step up my chapter uploading game! I was supposed to be uploading chapters over the entire summer. I am REALLY REALLY sorry for keeping you guys waiting for two months for each chapter. Like honestly it shouldn't be happening, you guys deserve more chapters more often for all the love and support you give this story. Trust me I'm trying my best throughout school and work and other things to get these chapters out to you guys. But on a different note, I understand that there are many of you guys that want Adam and Lynn to hurry up and start smooching with each other. I completely get that you guys wanna see this, or in this case read it, and have yet to see it even though this is mainly a romance story. But please understand I have _many plans_ for this story, and such plans _must_ be executed before I start having them make out or anything like that. Just be patient, trust me it'll be worth it :). So with that said, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter that you, once again, waited a while for!**

* * *

Lynn was trying her best to tip-toe through the hall. Everyone else was still asleep since they had to get up for school in a few hours. Lynn was currently up for her usual morning jog to start the day. She'd normally already be out there by this time but decided to put a bit of a change to her morning routine.

She quietly opened the door to Lincoln and Adam's room, quickly tip-toeing in and closing the door behind her.

"Adam?" She whispered. "Hey, wake up."

She began shaking his body, waking him up instantly.

"Wha...Lynn? What the?"

"Adam, cmon get up."

Adam sat up and rubbed his sleepy eyes. He took a look at the clock on the wall and huffed. "Lynn it's four-thirty in the morning. What're you doing up? And why'd you wake me up?"

"Come jog with me." Lynn beamed silently.

Adam looked at her confused. "What? Why?"

"Cause I usually jog in the morning to start my day." Lynn explained. "Plus it gets a bit lonely out there, and I figured since you work out with me a lot that you'd wanna come with."

Adam rubbed the back of his neck. He was mostly always excited to work out with Lynn, or do anything with her mainly. Only drawback for this one is having to get up out of bed early to do it.

"Couldn't we do this later? Maybe like an hour or so?" Adam asked.

"I can't, I gotta go to school in about an hour and a half. I wouldn't have enough time to jog and then come back home to get ready for school." Lynn said.

She walked closer to the bed and looked at Adam with puppy eyes. "Could you just come with me, please?"

Adam stared at her with a blank expression, trying not to fall for her guilt stare. But after a few moments it already proved too much. He groaned and let his head fall back into the pillow. "Okay, fine."

Lynn's face lit up instantly. "Great! I'll be downstairs. Don't be too long getting your clothes on." Before Adam had a chance take back what he said, Lynn dashed out of the room and down the stairs.

Adam sighed and slowly pulled himself out of bed. "I gotta learn to say no."

* * *

Adam yawned and stretched his arms while he came down the stairs. Looking in front of himself and seeing Lynn already at the front door with a red and white zip-up hoodie on while holding something else in her arm. She looked really excited to go out on a jog with him, despite how early it was.

"Alright, let's go." Adam said.

He felt Lynn put a open hand against his chest and push him back gently. "Not so fast."

Adam backed up confused. "What?"

"It's a bit chilly out right now." Lynn explained. "You're not going out with just your shirt and a pair of shorts."

"Well what else am I supposed to wear?" Adam said with a shrug.

Lynn held out the object that she held on her arm and revealed it to be a hoodie. "This."

Adam took the hoodie and examined it. It was blue and black and somewhat resembled Lynn's. "Is this...mine?"

Lynn nodded. "It's a jogging hoodie. We got it for you when we got your other clothes once you first started living with us."

Adam slowly smiled. "Wow...thanks!"

Lynn smiled at him before opening the door. "Cmon, let's see how it looks on you.

* * *

It was a lot more chilly than Lynn had thought. Her and Adam were jogging for ten minutes and already the breeze was giving them goosebumps as they ran. They even had to slow down at points since they picked up a stronger breeze while they were mobile.

"It's pretty breezy out here."

"Yeah, good thing I got you to wear that hoodie. By the way how does it feel?" Lynn asked.

"It feels real comfy! And it cuts off a lot of this wind from getting into my face."

Lynn smiled at him . "It looks great on you."

"Thanks!"

"Hey lets sit down for a bit. Take a break." Lynn said. Adam was a bit surprised by Lynn wanting to take a break only ten minutes into their activity. But then he took into account that it was pretty cold and it was early in the morning.

They both took a seat on a nearby cold bench in order to catch their breath. It's harder to run for long periods of time while talking.

Lynn was noticeably shivering. It had gotten a bit colder than she expected. Even though she had worked up a sweat and was wearing a hoodie the chilly winds still got to her.

"Geez, I swear it's getting colder!" She said rubbing her arms.

Adam unzipped his hoodie and scooted towards her. "Here get inside of my hoodie."

Lynn eyed Adam, a little hesitant on his offer. "What?"

"Just do it and hold onto me." Adam said.

Lynn hesitated. But after a couple moments, she ignored her thoughts and snuggled up next to Adam, draping her shoulder with the right side of his hoodie. She rested her head on Adam's shoulder and waited for a difference in temperature.

Adam moved his right arm under Lynn's and held onto her.

Lynn was about to complain about nothing happening until she felt warmth start to make it to her core. She let out a relaxing sigh from the soothing heat and wrapped her arms around Adam tighter.

"Are your hands cold?" Adam asked.

Lynn looked down at her hands and noticed they were completely pale and red from the cold. She nodded.

Adam grabbed both of her hands and held them close to his chest.

Lynn closed her eyes and enjoyed the warmth her body was receiving. She was surprised Adam's body was giving off this much heat in the first place. Almost like he was a human heater. Then again she never really huddled up next to a boy in the cold like this. She's familiar with getting close to a boy to wrap him up and slam him during wrestling, or whenever she tackled one on the opposing team during football. But this was something she hadn't experienced until now. And even though she wasn't trying to think about it too much, she liked it. In a weird way she felt...safe. Despite her being the rough, tough, Tomboy she is, there was something about the way Adam held her that made her feel protected. It made her feel like nothing in the world could hurt her.

Adam shortly realized Lynn was spiraling into her own little world silently. He smiled a little finding it humorous. "Are you warm now?"

"Hmm?"

Reality suddenly started rushing back to Lynn, and how she was almost melting into Adam's arms. "Oh! Yeah! Heh, feeling a lot better now."

"So much for jogging." Adam remarked.

"I think we can continue. Just gotta focus on generating more heat when we run."

Adam got bummed out about getting back to jogging and separating from their shared heat. It wasn't lasting forever anyway. He let go and helped her off the bench. "Alright. Lead the way, boss."

* * *

Lynn and Adam only managed to run for thirty more minutes after that since the cold was starting to get to both of them. That and they couldn't get too far out of the neighborhood where they weren't allowed to be. They quickly made their way back and nearly fell over themselves rushing back into the house.

Lynn let out a sigh of relief as she closed the door behind them. "Phew! Next time we're running in warmer weather!"

Adam laughed and took his hoodie off. "By that time you'd need my help to cool you down."

Lynn rolled her eyes at his remark. But she smiled to herself remembering the subtle moment they had on the cold bench.

"Mom! Lynn and Adam are back!" Lana announced after walking down the stairs and spotting them.

"Okay! There's pancakes, bacon, and eggs here in the kitchen go ahead and make your plate!" Rita yelled from the kitchen.

Adam began making his move toward the stairs, instantly grabbing Lynn's attention.

"Hey where're you going?"

Adam stopped already on the first step and looked back at her. "Just gonna put the hoodie in Lincoln's room."

"Nonono." Lynn shook her head and met him in front of the stairs. "You aren't skipping out on breakfast this time."

"I'm not, I thought you guys wanted it hung up somewhere instead of laying around?"

Lynn snatched Adam's hoodie and tossed it onto the couch before pulling Adam and heading to the kitchen. "We're not gonna worry about that. The doctor told us you need to eat as soon as breakfast was ready. So you're coming with me to the kitchen."

Adam chuckled. "I wasn't going to skip it I swear."

"Either way, you're coming with me."

They saw most of the other siblings in the kitchen as they came into it. It was clear that they woke up a few minutes ago, all of them still looked tired and ready to crawl back into bed. But there was something off about Luna, Adam saw it and Lynn noticed it too.

She looked completely exhausted, almost like she got no sleep last night. And she definitely didn't look like she was ready to go anywhere much less school. Adam already had a good idea as to why Luna looked this way, after last night she made it clear that she wasn't in a good place at the time.

Lynn quickly brought Adam to the kitchen but not before stealing a few glances at Luna.

"Hey...have you noticed Luna looking a bit...bummed?"

Adam nonchalantly shrugged pretending to know nothing about it. "I...didn't notice."

"No it's kinda bugging me. She's usually cheery and high spirited. Now she's looks like another Lucy."

"Maybe she's just tired? I mean everyone else is one you take a good look at em'."

Lynn shook her head. "No this isn't exhaustion. She almost looks depressed, and Luna isn't the gal that gets depressed often."

Adam could see his efforts to keep Luna's problem a secret fall short easily. Continuously trying to reassure Lynn with no gain was already beginning to take its toll on him. They all deserved to know what was happening to their sister whether she wanted them to or not. Even though Adam didn't like what they were hiding from everyone, he still respected Luna's wishes enough to not get everyone involved. He just wanted this situation between her and her close friend to end already, lying to his new family and watching someone he loved become hurt this badly was creating a festering battle in his mind.

A sigh left Lynn's lips and unintentionally snapping Adam from his subconscious.

"Oh well. I just hope she gets better cause that look doesn't suit her."

"It really doesn't." Adam said grabbing a couple pieces of bacon and scooping some scrambled eggs onto his plate.

Lynn quickly grabbed his wrists and stopped them in place. "What're you doing?"

"About to eat?"

"Not with that little amount of food you're not."

"Cmon, I'm completely fine with this amount of breakfast."

Lynn lightly scolded him while she made Adam's arms put the plate down. "Adam, Mom and Dad already told you not to worry about how much you eat. Besides, you're supposed to be eating a lot now remember?"

Adam gave Lynn a pleading look, just hoping she would let it slide.

Lynn ignored his expression and began putting more breakfast on his plate. She knew what Adam was trying to do now and she wasn't having it.

She was stubborn when it counted. Before long she had put plenty of breakfast on his plate and put it back in his hands. "Now go and eat with everyone else. I'll be out there after I make my own plate."

Adam sighed and laughed to himself. "Yes ma'am."

He made his way to the family table and sat next to Lincoln.

"Hey, Adam!" Lincoln spoke optimistically. "How was your jog?"

Adam took a bite of his food before answering. "How'd you know we went out for a jog?"

"Whenever Lynn isn't in the house in the morning it means she's out jogging. Not to mention you went with her so I just guessed you both jogged."

"Oh. Well it was great. Cold, but great."

"That's good! Hey, aren't you guys starting basketball sometime soon?"

Adam nodded. "Yeah, actually. We're trying out today."

"Awesome! You and Lynn are playing on the same team right?"

Adam sadly shook his head. "We'll be playing for the same school but not on the same team. It's not coed."

"Oh crap, I forgot her school didn't have a co ed basketball team."

"Yeah. But we'll still see each other after school mainly. So it's not all bad."

Lincoln nodded and continued eating his breakfast.

Lana came and sat down in front of Adam and Lincoln. Yawning and beginning to eat her own breakfast.

"Hey, Adam?" She asked. "You may wanna eat a bit faster. Even though Lori's on the phone, she keeps track of time. And she's gonna have us get going in about ten minutes or less."

Adam shook his head. "Actually, I'm not sure I can go back to school just yet."

Everyone that was at the table looked at Adam in confusion.

"What?" They said in unison.

Adam shrugged. "Yeah Mom and Dad talked to me about it. Since I'm not living with my old family anymore they need to let the school know about the situation and change things."

"Things like what?" Luan asked.

"Things like where I live now, who to contact incase of emergency, who I live with, update who's my legal guardian now, stuff like that."

Lynn walked into the room already eating her plate of food knowing she had limited time. "What's going on now?"

"Adam doesn't have to go to school." Lucy said.

"Well not for now." Adam corrected. "I still have to go later on once Mom and Dad talk to the Principal and all that."

"True." Lynn agreed sitting next to Adam. "They'll have you back in by tomorrow."

Lincoln pat Adam on the shoulder. "Looks like your freedom was short lived, my friend."

"Eh. I kinda wanna go back to school. I got a lot of friends from sports I haven't seen in awhile."

"At least you get to relax while you're out." Luan commented.

Adam shook his head. "I'd still have to make up work when I got back. Not really looking forward to that."

"Yeah that's the worst part about that." Lynn said with a full mouth before swallowing. "But at least you get to enjoy it while it lasts."

A peaceful moment passed by before Lori came walking into the room on the phone. It's almost like she never put it down. By the sounds of the conversation it sounded like she was talking to Bobby. But she ended up taking the phone away from her ear and announcing something.

"Let's go guys. We're not gonna be late again."

Some of the siblings groaned, but they all made sure to finish their plates before heading out the door.

Lori stopped before heading out and took the phone away from her face once more.

"Adam, did Mom and Dad get you back in school yet?

Adam shook his head. "Not yet, maybe soon?"

"K." Lori said, turning and heading for the door.

Adam blinked. "Wow, did I just get K'ed?"

Lynn giggled. She finished the last of her morsel and pushed her chair back to stand up.

"Lori does that a lot. Make sure you eat all of that before doing anything else."

"More than half is already gone." Adam joked.

Lynn rolled her eyes and smiled. "See ya at tryouts."

She grabbed Adam and pulled him into a hug.

Adam was blushing a little from the sudden show of affection, Lynn didn't show much affection like this around him.

"Wow, Lynn. Are ya growing soft on me now?"

"Nah." Lynn said pulling back and giving Adam a punch on the arm. "Just getting more comfortable with you."

Adam gingerly rubbed his arm and smiled. He watched Lynn grab her backpack and walk out the door.

Did he hear her correctly? She was getting more comfortable with him? Those words rang in his ears repeatedly. What does it mean when girls get more comfortable with you? Scratch that, what does it mean when _Lynn_ gets more comfortable with you? More two-for-flinching's? Surprise supplexes? Maybe a bone crushing bearhug followed by a kiss on the cheek? Adam replayed almost any possibility of what it meant for Lynn to get more comfortable around him. He's never seen many moments from her when she showed any romantic feelings, hell, he wasn't sure if she had romantic feelings.

Wait, no she did, with that Lex guy maybe...

He sighed. This was just becoming more complicated. He just hoped Lynn getting more comfy didn't mean getting friend zoned. It's more likely he'd have to wait for the answer to come up another time.

"Did they leave?" Lynn Sr. asked coming into the room.

Adam was a bit taken by surprise from the sudden appearance. "Uh, yeah. Just a few seconds ago."

Lynn Sr. nodded and took a look at all the dishes on the table. "Wow, they must've been running late." He started grabbing all the dishes one by one before taking them to the sink.

Adam got up from his chair and follows Lynn Sr. into the kitchen. "Do you need any help with that?"

"Nahh, I can handle the dishes." Lynn Sr. brought his hand to his chin and thought for a moment once an idea crossed his mind. "Hmm, y'know that reminds me, we haven't given you a chore to do."

"A chore?" Adam asked looking around at his surroundings only to find a clean and tidy house. "Right now?"

"No for later. All the other kids pull their weight around here somehow with their chores. Hmmmm, maybe you could help Lincoln with the garbage? He usually struggles to get the heavy bags outside to the front."

"Yeah I can definitely help with that."

Lynn Sr. smiled. "Great." He turned around and continued washing the dishes.

"I can help cook too. I've cooked more than a dozen meals for people before."

Lynn Sr. seemed pretty interested in that fact. "Really? Think you could help with tonight's dinner?"

Adam confidently nodded. "Of course."

"Perfect, looks like I won't need your mother's help for tonight after all. Say, you think you could help me with the ingredients right now?"

"Yeah sure. I don't see why not."

Lynn Sr. pumped his fist into the air. "Alright! Let's get down to it!" He shortly realized his hands were soapy and wet and remembered the dishes weren't done yet. "Eh...after the dishes..."

Adam smiled and started looking for the ingredient book.

* * *

"And you know what I did?" Lynn asked hesitating as all her friends at her lunch table looked on in awe. "I jumped up, shot, and swished that sucker."

"No way." Margo said in disbelief. "You were being blocked by three defenders! How'd you manage to shoot over all of them?"

Lynn shrugged. "Same way I managed to keep the ball away from them. Plus, I got mad skills."

"Way to toot your own horn, Lynn." Lynn's friend Riley said. "Plus that was _last_ year."

Lynn shrugged. "I've been training harder for this year, I wanna get a triple double."

Margo's eyes went huge. "A triple double? Lynn, do you know how hard it is to get a triple double in Middle School?"

"Exactly. I wanna do the impossible, have a challenge for a change."

"Leave it to Lynn to go above and beyond." Riley said.

Lynn proudly smiled, despite her friend conveying possible sarcasm.

"Hey, you know that one black guy? The one that plays a ton of sports? His last name starts with an L?" Margo asked.

Lynn's other friend Brandon jumped into the conversation. "Adam Law?"

He hit the nail on the head and caused Margo to snap her fingers. "Yeah! Did something happen to him? He just disappeared all of a sudden."

Brandon nodded. "Yeah I noticed that too! I saw him talking to Demetrius just a few weeks ago, or maybe a month or so and the next thing I know he vanished! What's worse is that basketball is coming up and it's his favorite season! Hope nothing bad happened to him."

"No nothing bad happened to him." Lynn blurred out.

Her friends all collectively gave her confused looks.

"Aaaaaand how would you know that, Lynn?" Polly asked.

Lynn mentally smacked herself for blurting out what she thought would've been best kept in. But with due time it seemed people would've figured something out once Adam came back to school suddenly.

"Well...I mean he's living with my family and I now."

"So something bad did happen to him." Riley joked, earning a half lidded gaze from Lynn.

"No in all seriousness, he's living with us."

"For how long?" Polly asked rubbing her chin.

Lynn shrugged. "For a long time probably, I haven't heard anything about finding somewhere else for him to stay from my parents."

"But that's not it right? That's not the end of the story?" Margo questioned. "There has to be a reason as to why he's living with you and not his parents. What was so bad that made him have to stay with you guys?"

"I'm not saying. I've said too much already."

"Awww c'mon, Lynn-"

"I said no!" Lynn snapped. "It's too personal. No one needs to know about it. End of discussion."

"Geez." Riley said. "Why're you so defensive about it?"

"Yeah Lynn, we're just curious about his situation." Polly said.

Lynn massaged her temples trying to calm her nerves. "Look, he's just been through a lot. I don't wanna make anything difficult for him at school. Maybe if he's comfortable with telling you guys about what happened then I'll let you know, but he's been through too much and talking about it may make it worse."

"Yeah, she's right you guys." Brandon agreed. "It does sound pretty personal. I just hope he can make it to tryouts."

"I'm pretty sure he can. I talked to him last night about it and he was pretty optimistic."

"I'll bet he can outdo Lynn and become the boys all star player." Riley said.

"Pffft, what's he got on a girl who's name rhymes with win?" Margo remarked.

Lynn laughed. "I mean I have to give him credit though, he's pretty skilled."

Brandon nodded. "Skilled is an understatement. The guy's a starter in every sport he plays."

"Yeah I've seen him too." Riley admitted. "He crossed over like four different people in a row during one of his games. I swear no one can guard him."

Lynn was pretty impressed. She's never really seen Adam play basketball at full effort, yet what she was hearing from her friends made it sound like he was already a pro. She was getting more excited about seeing him in his games the more she listened. Basketball must've been one of his prime time sports. She couldn't blame him, Basketball was one of her favorite sports to perform at 110%.

"I just wanna hurry and get to Basketball tryouts. Thinking about it is getting me hyped for the season."

Margo sighed. "You and me both."

* * *

"You ready to go, honey?" Rita asked grabbing the car keys.

Adam nodded making sure to tie his shoes.

"Adam, wait!" Lori called out sprinting down the stairs. "Take this before you go! It's for Basketball!"

Lori handed him a sleeve for his arm. They've been seeing a lot of boys wearing it during tournaments Lynn had gone to and figured Adam needed one of his own.

"Guess Lynn forgot to tell ya about us getting you that. Anyway, good luck at your tryouts!"

All the other girls said their "good luck"s to Adam before they got into the car and left out.

"Mrs. L- I mean Mom. Sorry I'm still getting used to that. Is Lynn still at the school?"

Rita giggled. "Don't worry about it, sweetie. Yes, Lynn is still at the school. She stayed after with her friends."

"Oh ok. Just checking."

"Are you feeling nervous?"

"A little. Just nervous about how my friends are gonna react to seeing me again. I've been in and out of school for a while since I ran away from my old adoptive parents. I only got to see my friends a few times during different sports like when I first met Lynn."

"Oh, well I'm sure they'll be happy to see you again! Especially since your father and I are getting you back into school tomorrow. We got you a new backpack and everything else you need."

Adam's face lit up from the news. He's been dying to get a new backpack and other school supplies for the longest time. That and he hated having to miss out on all of his classes.

"Wow, thanks!"

"No problem. Make sure you do good tonight!"

Before long they made it to the school. Adam put his arm sleeve on and said his goodbyes before dashing inside.

He opened the front door to the school and was instantly met by Lynn who had been waiting for him there.

"Cmon, Adam. Tryouts are about to start."

"What? How? They start in like 10 minutes."

"Yea but the coaches want to start early. They said they had stuff to do later on, so they wanted to get tryouts over with as fast as possible. That, and there wasn't a whole lotta people that wanted to tryout this time for both teams."

Adams brows raised when he heard that. Tryouts last year were definitely packed, despite the dozens of kids that didn't have much skill but tried out anyway. Their coaches were actually trying to make tryouts longer that year since there were so many new faces eager to join the team. Sadly only a handful of the new faces made it through tryouts anyway.

"Your friends might flip when they finally see you- wait...is that my arm sleeve?"

"Wait what?" Adam asked looking at the arm sleeve. "This is mine?"

Lynn giggled. "Actually, that's mine. Lori didn't tell you that?"

Adam shook his head looking confused. "You're telling me I'm wearing a girls arm sleeve?"

"Well it's more of a gender neutral arm sleeve."

Lynn giggled some more after watching Adam's face try to comprehend what he was being told with little ease.

"Lori gave you that, but never told you it was a hand me down?"

Adam shook his head. "Were you gonna wear this?"

"Nah you keep it, now hurry and get to the gym!"

"Which gym is it?"

"Boys get the small gym, the girls get the large gym."

Adam huffed. "That's kinda bogus."

The two athletes made it to the part of the hall that was right in between both gymnasiums. They could easily see each other while they were both at tryouts as long as the doors were open to both gyms.

Lynn pulled Adam into a tight hug before they departed. "I'll see ya after we're done." She pulled back and gave him another playful punch on the shoulder. "Good luck!"

Adam watched her run into the large gym, these hugs he's been getting from her still leave him wondering if she had gotten a brain transplant while he was unconscious. All this affection she's been showing is a little more than he's used to, especially from her.

"Adam!" Lynn's friend Brandon called, grabbing his attention. "Dude! It's been forever, I didn't think you were even gonna come!"

"Brandon! Wow it's been a minute! Of course I'd come, I wouldn't miss my favorite season!"

Brandon brought Adam into the gymnasium too excited to wait. "Dude everyone's been looking for you. We were hoping you'd come back to school!"

Once he was brought into the small gym he saw all the other boys who were trying out. They looked like they were seeing a ghost once they all laid their yes on Adam. He was swarmed instantaneously and sent a barrage of questions.

But before he could answer anyone, a loud whistle blew from their coach. "Line up everyone! Let's get these tryouts underway!"

They all ran onto the end of the court and lined up like their coach had told them. Most of them were still surprised by Adam's sudden return to school. Even the coach double took when he saw Adam lined up with everyone else.

"Law? You're back? It's been awhile since I last saw you in school, where've you been?"

"It's a long story, coach. Just know I'm here now."

The coach shrugged and wrote on his clipboard. "Glad to see you trying out again this year. I got worried we were gonna have a season without you." He backed up to the middle of the court and began explaining what was going to happen. Informing the boys that there was a lot less of them trying out this year and that today's tryouts would be shorter to anyone that didn't know. Then after everything was said, he blew the next whistle and started tryouts.

Adam and Lynn both blew through all the tryout drills with ease, just barely breaking a sweat, and making all the skilled moves they performed look easy. It was never a question about if they would ever make the team. Their skill and experience would make all the obstacles in front of them look effortless to say the least. Even when it was over, they still had enough energy to do it all again and then some.

The coach listed off the names of the kids that made the team, only leaving a handful that didn't.

Adam walked out of the gym and looked inside of the large gym where Lynn was at. Her and the other girls were all seated on the floor in a group and listening to their coach.

"Looks like she's giving them a little talk before they end tryouts." Brandon suddenly said from behind him. He saw Adam looking into the gym while he waited.

"By the way ,Adam, I just wanted to know, is there something going on with you and Lynn?"

"What do you mean?"

"I saw her hug you before she went into the large gym. I've never seen her hug anyone like that. Not even her teammates during a win. I mean sure they'll have that celebratory hug and what not but the one between you guys seemed...different."

"Wait...you think..." Adam thought about what he said. It only took a moment before he put together what Brandon meant and how he was confused. "Oh, no we're not like _that_. I wish we were but we're not."

Brandon chuckled. "If you like her why not just say so?"

"Cause 1. I don't even know if she's interested in having a relationship, let alone with me. 2. She may not even think of me like that, and 3. I live with her."

Brandon double took at Adam. "W-wait...you're what?"

Adam sighed. "It's a long story. I just don't think I really have a chance with her. I feel like all the possibilities are against me."

Brandon wasn't thinking so much about the idea of him and Lynn together anymore as he was thinking about the whole living with each other situation. He was hoping when Lynn told him about that at lunch that there would be at least some lie to it, at least some part of it would be a joke. But now that Adam confirmed it, he was more curious about what happened while he was away.

"Well...I'm pretty sure she'd come around at some point. On a different note though, I'm curious as to what went down when you were gone."

"I...don't think I'm really comfortable with telling people about that yet."

Brandon nodded. "I understand, Lynn was telling us about how you probably wouldn't wanna talk about that as soon as you got back. Just take your time, you don't have to tell anyone if you don't want to."

"Thanks." Adam said genuinely.

"Alright, I'm gonna start heading home. Good job today!" Brandon said giving Adam a pat on the back as he departed.

"You too."

It wasn't long before Lynn came out of the large gym. Giving Adam a smile once they saw each other.

"She looks cute when she sweats..." Adam thought to himself.

"Hey Adam." Lynn greeted.

"Hey Lynn, how was tryouts?"

Lynn groaned. "Y'know, it was pretty fun for the most part. But some of the girls were hogging the ball during team drills and circuits. Not to mention Madison was there too.." Lynn showed a change of emotion just speaking her old friends name.

"What's Madison doing there? Is she gonna try out for the watergirl?"

Lynn laughed a little, dropping some tension from tryouts. "Nah I wish, that way she wouldn't constantly be in my ear about how 'bad' I am to her. She'll probably be a bench player anyway."

"No doubt. We should get going before she starts pestering you again."

"Actually I may wanna stay for a few minutes for her to catch up. I feel like practicing some of my new wrestling moves on someone."

Adam smiled and shook his head. "Cmon, I'm pretty sure your Mom's outside waiting for us."

" _Our_ Mom." Lynn corrected with a smile.

"Right." Adam said rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, haven't gotten used to that yet."

"That's alright, we understand. Now let's get going, I'm starting to get a little tired." Lynn said beginning to walk to the school entrance, Adam following behind her.

"Lynnsanity starting to burn out?"

"More like crashing and burning. Might even have you carry me back home."

"Dunno if that'd work out, I kinda want someone to carry me too. Starting to feel sleepy." Adam said laughing a little.

"Looks like we could both use some of Luna's hype music."

"Or a lullaby."

"Jokes aside though, I'm probably gonna hit the hay when we get back."

"Planning on jogging when you get up?"

Lynn shook her head. "Nah, gonna get some more sleep tonight. Practice tomorrow is gonna have to do."

"True dat. Also, I'd just like to say that we should lay off the morning jogs for a bit. Kinda bad for our sleep schedule."

"Or you just don't wanna get up earlier every morning."

Adam smirked. "That too."

Lynn smiled back and shook her head. "Whatever, let's just get in the car."

* * *

 **That's that chapter! Kinda feel like I bonked the whole tryouts thing cause I didn't show much for it. But I felt like I had to hurry and get this chapter out cause I hated making you guys wait. But yeah! Adam and Lynn are gonna start the Basketball season soon, Adam's gonna see his friends again, and a whole buncha other stuff! It's late where I'm at once again so I'm not gonna say much else cause I gotta get to bed for school. I was able to get some great and generous artists to draw some requests I had in mind for Adam and Lynn! They're mainly requests for the story's cover image I guess, but I'll update the cover image some other time and put one of the drawing requests onto it! I'll put the artists Tumblr name in the story bio so you guys can know who it's from and so I can give the artist well-deserved credit! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Please Review to lemme know how you felt about it, Follow or Favorite if you're new and wanna see more! Until next chapter, see ya!**


	10. Chapter 10: Old Memories

**I told myself time and time again to get my shit together and upload another chapter. But here it is practically 5 months later finally uploading a new one, that's only 4,000 words long...I am deeply, deeply sorry for making you guys wait so friggin' long for this chapter. I got tied down once more with school, and stuff afterschool. Mainly things to help me set up my future. Can't really say I wont be busy after I upload this chapter tbh, but I will try my best to upload another chapter as soon as my schedule will allow me to. But on another note I have a bit of a surprise for you guys in the next AU. It may or may not please most of you guys, hopefully it will. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

* * *

The morning was kind of quick with how everyone was up and getting ready for school. All the kids were running back and forth to make sure they weren't late to get to Vanzilla. Lori was trying to get a head count and make sure everyone was ready to go.

"Adam, have you seen my math folder? I accidentally left it down here last night and my homework's in it." Lincoln shouted from his room.

Adam was finishing tying his shoes before starting to walk down the staircase. "Nah, did you check your nightstand?"

"Never mind! I found it!" Lincoln shouted again.

"Alright!"

Adam made sure both shoes were tight before making his way down the stairs and quickly to the kitchen. Most of the girls seemed to be in the kitchen for the most part. They went in and out one by one. Carrying a breakfast sandwich in their hands on the way out and saying their morning greetings to Adam as they passed by.

Lynn came out walking with two of the sandwiches in her hands, looking a bit energized despite not waking up early for her usual run. She walked up to Adam holding out the other sandwich.

"Thanks. What is this?"

"Dads breakfast sandwiches. That one's yours, go ahead and try it! They're amazing!"

Adam took a quick look at the sandwich before biting into it. The flavor began to slowly hit his taste buds, freezing him in place to admire it.

"Whoa."

"I know right?"

Lynn took another bite from her already half way gone sandwich. "So what're you gonna do today?"

Adam looked away for a moment trying to remember what he was going to tell her once they woke up.

"Oh that's right, I'm actually going to school with you."

Lynn's eyes widened. "What? You're coming back?"

Adam nodded. "Guess you were right about them getting be back in within a day."

"I was just kidding, I didn't know they'd actually be able to. But that's amazing!"

"I know right? I honestly can't wait, it's been a while."

"Are you gonna be fine with everyone at school? You know they're gonna ask a lot of questions."

Adam waved his hand, seemingly unfazed about that fact. "I'm not worried. If anything, I wouldn't tell them much, outside of the fact that we live together now."

Lynn didn't look as confident as Adam was about coming back to school. After the way she heard he reacted when those concert songs triggered his memory, she's always been cautious when it came to others possibly triggering his memories. Even though Adam convinced her that he was fine and that the sudden freak out was a one time thing.

"You're really calm about this. I honestly don't know what I'd do if I was you. It seems too stressful to handle."

"Trust me, it'll be fine."

Lynn looked off to the side with a hint of concern, "If anyone goes too far or says anything beyond rude and or personal, just let me know."

Adam smiled. "You got it."

After a quick nod, Lynn started finishing her sandwich, followed by Adam finishing his.

Before long, Lori had gathered the rest of her siblings, and Adam, and brought them to Vanzilla.

All the other girls were asking Adam about how he felt with going back to school. They got the general answer that he had given Lynn since he didn't want them to know about the possible issues he would have going back. Having Lynn worry about him was enough on his hands, given her fiercely protective nature. But all the other girls, and Lincoln, would probably blow the whole thing out of proportion.

Hopefully Adam's return to school would be a peaceful one.

* * *

"Alright guys, be good in school! I'll pick you guys up after practice!" Lori shouted before pulling off.

Adam and Lynn began walking toward the entrance of the school, showing some hesitation as they got closer. Lynn peaked at Adam from the corner of her eye to try to catch any sign of fear or mixed emotions in his face. But to her surprise, Adam kept a calm and confident look, despite how slow they were walking.

They got close enough to the point when Adam was about to grab the door handle and open it for both of them. Lynn quickly grabbed him by the wrist before he could pull the door open.

"Lynn-"

"Adam wait. Before you say anything, I just wanna make sure you're still ok with this. I know I keep asking you about this over and over again, but I'm honestly not sure about this myself...about you coming back. Don't get me wrong I would love for you to come back to school, it's just that I'm scared about what could happen when you come back. The other kids aren't really known that well for being careful about sensitive topics. Some of them still judge me after Madison told a few people about the fight Lincoln and I had. They can be really cruel...I don't want them getting to you."

"Lynn, you know me. I can handle it. Besides, even if I couldn't, you already told me you had my back."

Lynn shrugged. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean it can't get to you mentally. I haven't even seen you have a mental breakdown, I only heard about it from Luna."

"Then why are you so worried about me having one?"

Lynn looked anywhere but his eyes, hesitating to give him an answer. "...I don't wanna see it...I don't wanna see you have a mental breakdown in front of me...I...I don't know what'd I'd do if you were in that state."

Adam softly sighed. "Look, I'm the same way with you. I don't like to see you hurt in any kind of way. But I know you can power through it, we both can. If anything happens, then it happens. As long as we're both breathing everything will be fine."

Lynn stared into Adam's eyes for a while, searching for any doubt of his words. But he was completely confident in what he was saying, and he was ready for anything to come his way when he walked inside the school. She knew it was a lost cause talking him out of anything at this point. She stared at the door with an unsure glance, before slowly letting go of Adam's wrist.

They both stepped inside of the school, middle schoolers were everywhere. Some were standing in groups and having conversations while others walked around.

Adam took out his schedule and studied it for a moment. Lynn joined in with him to see if they had any matching classes.

"Wait a minute." Lynn spoke grabbing the schedule and staring at it harder. "I think we have the same classes?"

"Really?"

"Yeah! Well, most at least. There's two on here that I'm not in. But we got six of 'em together!"

"That's amazing!"

Lynn looked back at the paper and stared at it once more. "Yeah...I didn't even notice you in these classes."

A ringtone from a phone was suddenly blasting followed by vigorous vibrating, grabbing the teens attentions. Adam pulled the device out from his pocket and silenced it, but not before it turned the heads of nearby students.

"No way! Mom and Dad got you the new phone?" Lynn asked staring at the phone.

Adam shrugged. "Yeah I guess, I'm not familiar with the models."

"Cool! Here I'll add my number." Lynn said taking his phone and creating a contact.

Adam was slowly starting to blush, secretly smiling to himself.

"Well that's one way to get her number.."

Lynn put; "Your Superior #1" in for the contact name. She then took a picture of herself letting her tongue hang out with a devilish smile, to set for the contacts picture.

Adam looked at the contact after she had finished creating her masterpiece. "Wow, you really got creative with that huh?"

Lynn snickered at the sarcasm. "You can change it whenever you want. Oooo that reminds me! There's an app that everyone's using that I need to get you on!"

"Why?"

"Cause it's social media. Basically everyone in the school uses it. I'm pretty sure all your friends use it too."

"What's it called?"

"Before I show you the app I gotta show you how to work that phone first. No point in having an app if you don't know how to turn your own phone on."

"Well could ya start the 101 then?"

Lynn giggled then took his phone.

"Ok, so these phones are pretty high tech. They got all sorts of stuff in them, dictionaries, the internet, cameras, social media, you name it. You can even use your thumbprint as a way to unlock your phone."

Adam casted a confused gaze toward Lynn. "Unlock?"

"Yeah! The phone locks automatically whenever you turn it off or lock it, depending on what you wanna call it. So unlocking it only requires a passcode or password of your choice, or your thumbprint."

Adam scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Seems complicated."

"Trust me it's not. It's real simple. We'll set it up another time. But all you gotta do for now is just press the home button and you can get into the phone."

Lynn unlocked the phone showing pre-set apps on the home screen. Adam was shocked at how many apps the device already had before he even downloaded any.

"Geez what's all those for?"

"A lot. There's one for music, one for photos and pictures, one for a internet browser, another one for the calendar, one for the weather, a whole bunch."

Adam's interest grew hearing the countless apps the phone already had. "Wow, what about a sports app?"

"Yep, I downloaded it already. I can show you that one too."

"Awesome! I wonder-"

Adam was suddenly interrupted by a dark skinned boy running down the hall. "Adam! Dude where've you been?!"

Adam turned around right before nearly being tackled to the floor by the boy.

"Demetrius?" Adam asked hugging the boy back.

"Yeah, man! You've been gone for months what happened?!"

Adam glanced at Lynn for a quick moment before pulling away from the hug and turning to his friend.

"It's a really long story. But I'm back now! How've you been?"

"The same, mostly. Doing a little bit of off-season training for football." Demetrius glanced over at Lynn. "Hey, Lynn. Thanks for bringing him back!"

Lynn smiled and waved her hand forward a few times. "It was nothing, really."

Adam smirked at her and gave her a look. To which she shrugged back.

Adam turned back to his old friend. "Anyway, what've you been doing since you got here?"

"Talking to everyone else. We've all been dying to see you again, bro. You should come with, I'll bet they'll be surprised as hell to see ya."

"Sure!" Adam turned to Lynn while Demetrius lead the way. "Wanna come with?"

"I dunno. I feel like I'd be the odd one out since I don't know these people."

"I'm sure you know them. Most of em play sports like us! Well, close to us anyway. You've probably met them already."

Lynn rubbed her chin while she thought out loud. "I do know Demetrius...come to think of it I think I know some of his friends too. You might be right.."

"I am right. Just tag along. Worse case scenario: you make new friends."

Lynn rolled her eyes but let a smile slip out as she followed Adam. "Alright, touché."

* * *

The three teens met up with another group of friends. A group that Adam and Demetrius knew altogether, even Lynn knew most of not all of the kids in the group. The obvious questions came in first with the kids asking where Adam has been and what had happened while he was gone. But he informed them that he wasn't so keen on opening up to everyone about what happened while he was gone. Though, he assured them he wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

"We actually live together now." Adam said gesturing to Lynn.

The other kids looked at both of them in awe.

"Wait a minute" Demetrius interjected. "You guys live with each other? Like in the same house?"

Adam and Lynn both nodded.

"Wow, we really did miss a lot." Demetrius remarked.

"An extra kid in their already huge house too? That's gotta be a milestone for your parents, Lynn." Their other friend Joey added.

"Yea, that's yet another sport kid." Their other friend Riley said.

"Yeah, but it's fun as hell. Infinite stamina sports partner at home." Lynn said giving Adam a nudge with her elbow.

"I wouldn't say infinite." Adam joked. "You tend to run me down with all the sports you're able to play throughout one day at a time."

"Gotta stay active, right?"

Adam nodded in response.

Riley messed with her pigtails and cocked her head to the side. "You coming to practice today, Lynn?"

"Hell yeah! Wouldn't miss it!"

"Ok good cause there's a couple new plays the some of the girls and I came up with that we need you to look over."

"Really? Plays like what?"

Riley pulled out a notebook from her backpack and handed it to Lynn. Lynn grabbed the notebook and flipped through the pages, skipping through some class notes before getting to the basketball plays and studying it.

"Yo Adam." Adam's friend Jackson said waving him over behind Riley. "I gotta talk to you."

Adam quirked an eyebrow before hesitantly walking over to him. Not seeing why Jackson needed a little more of a private discussion with him. Lynn was busy looking at the plays with Riley, so he didn't feel like he was leaving her behind or anything of that nature.

"What's up, Jackson?"

"I don't mean to have a desperate convo from the group or anything, but I figured you wouldn't want anyone else hearing about this."

Adam shrugged. "Well alright, what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Jackson looked over at Lynn and Riley before meeting Adam's gaze again.

"Even though you just got back I've noticed something between you and Lynn."

Adam's expression grew slightly hearing this favorable topic. "Something like what?"

"Like a spark between you two...you guys aren't dating are you?"

Hearing that made Adam tense up suddenly. He was scared that he was making it too obvious that he was into her. He had a feeling he may have been dropping off accidental hints to Lynn about his feelings.

"Nonononono we're just friends! I mean I wish we were dating cause I really want to but no, we aren't together."

"You guys kinda seem like it. You're walking around together, I've even seen you guys talk to each other in a certain manner at tryouts, and the way you look at her says it all."

Adam started blushing and rubbing the side of his arm. "Is it really that obvious?"

Jackson waved his hand. "Kind of. But not too obvious. But haven't you heard?"

"Heard what?" Adam said furrowing his brow.

"She's got the hots for a guy named Francisco." Jackson said.

"Francisco? I know that guy. I played with him during baseball. What makes you think she's into him like that?"

"She talks about him with all of her friends. Well used to at least. I've noticed every time he walked past her or talked to her that she'd go into some sort of trance. Plus she acts really weird around him, like 'not so Lynn'."

Adam looked off to the side. He felt a state of panic start to set it. His mind was trying to comprehend all this info at once. "Lynn likes another guy? Francisco at that? Well...Francisco is actually a pretty nice guy, not gonna lie. But she's into him? How long has she been starstruck over him? Days? Weeks? Months?"

"Um Adam?" Jackson called pulling Adam out of his thoughts. "Whatcha thinking about?"

Adam sighed. "I'm just thinking about what you said. If Lynn really likes Francisco then I don't have a shot."

"What do you mean you 'don't have a shot'? You're not exactly Dwayne Johnson, but you catch a lotta girls eyes in school. If anything you'd have a better shot."

"No it's cause Lynn may only want to be friends. That's why I haven't told her how I felt about her yet. I feel like she'll just wanna stay as friends and that'll end up making the relationship we already have awkward after that. Or, worse case scenario, our current relationship ceases and we don't talk to each other anymore."

"But you guys live together. She'd have to put up with you regardless."

"Doesn't mean she will."

Jackson gave Adam a pat on the back reassuringly with a smirk. "I feel like you're just overthinking this, buddy."

"But it's Lynn."

"I'll admit, Lynn isn't known very well for her romantic relationships. I don't even know if she's been in one to begin with. But even she's got a soft side, you just gotta shoot your shot and hope for the best."

Adam's heard the 'go for it' line enough times already. They weren't wrong for telling him to do that, but they didn't fully understand his dilemma. He couldn't simply just tell her he flat out liked her, Lynn was a very unique girl. He didn't know if he'd get punched or laughed at for telling her how he felt. There was a small chance of him getting anything negative or derogatory of a response from her, but he didn't believe he'd receive much of a mutual response from her.

Before he could even make a rebuttal the bell had rung. Jackson gave Adam a pat on the shoulder for reassurance before heading to his first class.

"Sorry, got a little carried away." Lynn said coming back to Adam. "Riley has some good plays that can help our teams out for the season."

"That's fine. Let's hurry and get to Math before the bell rings again and we're late."

Lynn groaned, dropping her head. "I hate math class."

"Me too, but we're still forced to go to it." Adam replied shrugging.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Lynn said following him to their first period.

Adam and Lynn went to their classes one by one. Both of them first attending Math together, then they both went to Spanish and met even more of Adam's friends he hadn't seen in a while. They departed the next period since Lynn wasn't in Adam's science class. But then they went to English and Lunch together, until Adam went to History class while Lynn went to her other class, they reunited for gym class, and finally they came back to their Homeroom period.

Lynn sat down next to Adam once they were all allowed to move around.

"You have a lot more friends than I originally thought you had."

"Yeah it kinda surprised me with how many people were shocked to see me again. Can't help but feel like there's still a few more people I haven't seen yet."

Almost as if on cue, Lynn saw a girl walk into the homeroom late, looking winded from running through the hall. She looked directly at Adam as if she'd seen a ghost.

"Adam?!" The girl almost screamed running up to him and hugging him.

Lynn stared at Adam confused as he shrugged back at her in response.

"It's Jenny! Do you remember me?"

"Jenny?" Adam spoke, realization suddenly striking him. "Yeah! We used to hang out all the time!" He hugged her back.

"Oh, is she another one of your friends?" Lynn said taking a look at the girl. She seemed to stare at her for an unusual amount of time. Like she sensed something off in her. She wasn't like all of Adam's other friends. She seemed more...clingy. A bit too clingy for Lynn's taste.

"Yea! We go wayyy back." Adam said after breaking the hug.

"Where did you go? You've been gone for the longest!" Jenny said.

Adam rubbed his neck and sheepishly smiled. "It's a long story. But it's good to see everyone again."

"Everyone was wondering where you went, we thought you got into an accident or something worse."

Adam looked away. "Something happened to me while I was gone, yes. But thanks to Lynn and her family, I'm being cared for and I'm back in school!"

Jenny looked over at Lynn with a sweet smile on her face. "Awwww thanks for bringing him back Lynn! You're the best!"

Lynn forced a smile onto her face that could almost be seen through. "Hehe, no problem!"

Even if Jenny was too happy to read Lynn's expression thoroughly, Adam, almost an expert at it, noticed her face conveying something her mind didn't exactly feel. He couldn't exactly tell why she wasn't feeling so good at the moment but he could see she was upset about something.

"Lynn, are you good?"

Lynn tried her best to drop any remaining negative thoughts in order to put on a better smile. "Nothing! I'm fine, something just doesn't feel right in my stomach."

"Oh. Do you wanna just go home and skip basketball practice today?"

Lynn shook her head while waving her hands, attempting to be as nonchalant as possible. "No no, I think I'm just a little hungry! It'll pass, don't worry."

Adam looked at her one last time before letting it go for the moment. Lynn was never one to open up the first time you asked her to, he knew that. He was just going to let it go for now, knowing that Lynn would give in at some point. If it was urgent he would've been told about it by now.

"Alright, if you need anything just let me know."

He went back to talking to Jenny, missing Lynn's forged smile drop as he looked away.

The bell had rung once their last class ended. Adam and Lynn grabbed their backpacks and started heading to their individual gyms. Jenny had decided to tag along to talk to Adam more as they made their way through the crowded hallway. Lynn remained silent the entire time Jenny was with them. Doing her best to not look phased by Jenny's sheer presence alone. Adam would occasionally glance over at her while talking to Jenny to see why she was so silent. Once again he could see that Lynn was facing some form of internal dilemma yet staying completely silent about it. He still hadn't thought of a reason for why she'd be so dejected, or what it was even about in the first place.

Before long Jenny had left after saying her goodbyes to Adam and Lynn. Leaving the two to silently walk to their gyms.

"Lynn." Adam called, snapping Lynn out of her silent trance.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?"

Lynn nodded as sincerely as she could. Trying her best to seem honest when she wasn't.

"Yeah, it's just my stomach."

Adam grabbed Lynn's shoulder and stopped her. "Lynn we don't have to go to practice. If something's really bothering your stomach then we'll go home. I won't judge you for skipping."

"You don't have to worry about it, I still wanna go to practice. It's not serious or anything."

Adam gave her a stern look, Lynn had a tendency to lie about her feelings.

"I'm being serious, I'm alright. You don't have to worry about me. Look, I can still exercise!"

Lynn started doing jumping jacks in place to show Adam that her physical condition was in check.

Though, Adam didn't believe her 100%, he decided to just take her word for it so they wouldn't be late for practice.

"Ok, fine. Just remember, you can talk to me about anything. I'm always here if you need to talk about something."

Lynn nodded and gave him a reassuring smile. "I know, thanks. Now hurry and get to the gym before you're late!"

Adam reluctantly ran off to the smaller gym for practice.

Lynn sighed to herself. Her real issue was Jenny. She didn't like how close Jenny was to Adam, regardless of their past friendship. She felt like Jenny was trying to replace her in a way. That, and the fact that the two of them seemed closer that just friends. Lynn had a fantastic and strong bond with Adam, so strong that she started developing certain feelings for him that she had for Francisco. But it seemed deeper for Adam. Something that it seemed Jenny had started developing too.

Adam shot a three pointer and swished it into the hoop. Shortly receiving the rebound from Demetrius. "Something just seems odd with her, man. I'm really trying to figure it out and make sure she's okay."

Demetrius snickered. "You two already sound like a couple."

"I mean I wanna be, but I'm too scared to ask. Anyway, that's not the point. The point is, somethings wrong with her. Like something in her head that she doesn't wanna talk about I think." He shot and made another three pointer.

"Did you try asking her about it?" Demetrius asked after tossing him the rebound again.

"Duh." Adam said before making another three. "She's stubborn, she doesn't wanna tell me what's going on and I hate that."

Demetrius grabbed the rebound again. "Maybe it's not that important? I feel like she would've told you by now if it was."

Adam sighed. "I guess."

Demetrius tossed him the ball again with a smirk. "She's probably telling the truth when she says it's just her stomach."

Adam shrugged. "I hope."

"C'mon we're talking about Lynn Loud. You really think something or somebody would be giving her trouble?"

Adam thought about that comment. He had to admit, outside of the house she was pretty resilient when it came to issues with other people. He only saw her visibly upset at school once, and that was when they first met. Maybe he was overthinking this whole situation.

"I guess not. You're probably right." Adam said before taking another shot, this time bouncing the ball off the rim and missing.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading this chapter after such a long wait! As you can see things are starting to heat up a bit with Adam coming back to school, his old friend Jenny is trying to reignite their old friendship they had before he had left and that may mean some issues down the road. Obviously there's a lot more to come but you'll have to read and find out once I get these chapters uploaded. As for the surprise I mentioned earlier; while I was scrambling to write this chapter I was able to watch an incredible Netflix show named "Stranger Things". I finished both seasons and all I can say is "WOW!" it was so amazing to watch! I got so captivated by everything about it! Story, Characters and all! After I finished the seasons and started writing again I came up with an idea to start a new story, one for Stranger Things. This doesn't mean I won't upload anymore chapters for The Loud House Sportsmanship, I'm still gonna do that. It just means I'll have another story on here that I'll be writing for! I hope you guys will find the time to go read it once I have it published on here. Tbh I'm pretty excited about making that story and I can't wait to start writing for it more! Might even have more than one story for that show tbh...who knows? But outside of the new story I'm working on, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Feel free to Review and let me know how you felt about it! I'll see ya in the next chapter!**


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